W House dismisses Democrat's call for Bush censure

WASHINGTON, Mar 13 (Reuters) The White House today dismissed as politically motivated a Democratic senator's attempt to censure President George W Bush for ordering domestic eavesdropping on US citizens without a warrant.

Sen Russ Feingold of Wisconsin yesterday told ABC's ''This Week'' that he intends to push for a resolution in the US Congress that would censure the president for what he considers an unlawful wiretapping program authorized by the White House after the September. 11 attacks.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Feingold's move ''has more to do with 2008 politics than anything else.'' Feingold is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

Bush has come under criticism from Democrats and many of his own Republicans for letting the National Security Agency eavesdrop, without court-ordered warrants, on telephone calls and e-mails to and from overseas contacts with suspected al Qaeda ties.

A congressional censure would be an official rebuke of the president. The move seemed unlikely to go far in the Republican-controlled Congress.

''I think it does raise the question, how do you fight and win the war on terrorism?'' McClellan said. ''And if Democrats want to argue that we shouldn't be listening to al Qaeda communications, it's their right and we welcome the debate. We are a nation at war.'' Critics say the NSA program could violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, as well as the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the government to seek wiretap warrants from a secret court even during times of war.

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