U.S. LAWMAKERS SUPPORT GULF ACTION
American lawmakers rallied behind
President Reagan for the U.S. strike against Iranian targets in
the Gulf but the attack fueled a sharp new White House-Congress
debate over limits on his powers to make war.
    The Pentagon announced on Monday that U.S. warships
destroyed a non-producing oil platform used for monitoring Gulf
ship traffic and military operations, and also raided a second
Iranian oil rig in retaliation for an earlier Iranian attack on
a Kuwaiti ship flying the American flag.
    Many Democrats, who control Congress, and Republicans
expressed support for the attack and praised it as an
appropriate "measured response."
    But Democrats and liberal Republicans voiced new fears that
the growing confrontation between Tehran and the United States
could erupt into a major war, and demanded that Reagan comply
with the 1973 War Powers Act, which could lead to a pullout of
American forces from the waterway.
    "Those who contend the strike was necessary must realize
their words are easily construed as a tacit endorsement of war
with Iran," said Sen Mark Hatfield of Oregon, a Republican.
 Reuter
