As Congress draws closer to voting on a resolution that would give the president broad power to use military force against Iraq, a panel of Kansas University experts Wednesday said a convincing case for war had not been made.

What’s more, President Bush and his supporters have swept civil liberties breaches, the troubled economy and pressing international matters aside to force the Iraq issue, the panelists agreed.

Four KU professors  Burdett Loomis, political science; Charles Epp, public administration; Robert Rowland, communication studies; and Carl Strikwerda, history and European studies  discussed the domestic issues of the U.S. conflict with Iraq before an audience of more than 75 people on Wednesday. A second group of panelists today will outline the international implications.

Today’s discussion will be from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Jayhawk Room in the Kansas Union.

The speakers on Wednesday agreed that recent opinion polls should not be considered accurate gauges of public sentiment. Although a majority of Americans faced with the unfettered question of whether they support using military force to oust Saddam Hussein answer yes, those percentages drop when American casualties and lack of ally support enter the equation.

“There are so many qualifications that it’s hard to say where people are on this policy,” Loomis said.

The House could vote on a resolution as early as today. However, delay tactics are expected to push debate in the Senate into next week.

Rowland and others said they were disappointed in what they said was a lack of sensible debate among congressional leaders. Many Republicans seem to resort to simplistic reasoning that advocates nailing the Saddam who went after Bush’s father, Rowland said. Many Democrats, afraid of being labeled unpatriotic, aren’t being candid about their objections.

Epp cited a string of post-Sept. 11 Justice Department policies, including the indefinite detention of noncitizens accused of terrorism and the targeting of Arab and Muslim suspects, as affronts to civil liberties, which he called the very foundation of democracy.

Strikwerda offered successful past examples of American foreign policy, such as the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that he said Bush would be smart to emulate.

A pre-emptive strike on Iraq erodes trust and threatens relations with allies, he said.

 Staff writer Mindie Paget can be reached at 832-7187.