"We are confident that we will uncover the full extent of Saddam Hussein's (weapons) programs and confident we will find weapons of mass destruction," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

Opposition Democrats, many of whom voted in favor of a congressional resolution authorizing the war, have ramped up attacks on what they charge was the administration's exaggerations about the threat posed by Iraq.

The firestorm has thus far centered on a line in US President George W. Bush's January State of the Union speech to the nation, in which he said Britain had learned that Saddam sought uranium for nuclear arms from Africa.

Bush hinged his case for war on allegations that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons, sought atomic weapons and had ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"This was a growing threat. In light of September 11, it became even more real, and that's why we took the steps that we did," said McClellan. "In the post-9/11 era, we must confront threats before it's too late."

But US-led forces who have had the run of Iraq for some three months have yet to unearth conclusive evidence proving those charges, and the White House has acknowledged that Bush should not have made the uranium charge because the evidence underpinning it was flawed.

On Wednesday, McClellan insisted that the pre-war case against Saddam was "very compelling and solid," and he alleged that the Democrats were assailing the administration's case only in hindsight.

"The debate until recently was not about whether or not Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, it was about what to do about them. This was well documented," he said.

"Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution in support of the action that we were prepared to take," said the spokesman, referring to the March invasion that led to Saddam's ouster.

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