President Bush summoned the ghosts of history yesterday as he underscored his determination to launch an attack aimed at overthrowing the Iraqi leader, President Saddam Hussein.
As Arab leaders predicted such an attack would "open the gates of hell", several of the most senior figures in Mr Bush's administration met top US military officers in the Pentagon to discuss tactics.
President Bush vowed he would make the case to world leaders that "history has called us into action".
"We can't let the world's worst leaders blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world's worst weapons," said Mr Bush, referring to the US belief that Iraq is developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
"I look forward to a dialogue. I'm a patient man. I've got tools, we've got tools at our disposal," he said in a speech in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was raising funds for a fellow Republican running for Congress.
He added he would remind the leaders of France, Russia, China, Britain and Canada "that history has called us into action".
Mr Bush is due to meet Mr Blair tomorrow.
At the Pentagon, administrative headquarters of the US military, Vice-President Dick Cheney and senior officials, together with two dozen senators, US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld, and CIA director Mr George Tenet, met the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Richard Myers.
The meeting began with a briefing on the growing threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and was followed by discussion on "all of the issues", including Iraq, according to an official.
The official insisted the meeting was about more than just Iraq. "[Mr Rumsfeld] made clear it was not a briefing on Iraq, but on the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction not particularized to any one country."
In Cairo, the head of the Arab League, Mr Amr Moussa, said a strike against Iraq would "open the gates of hell" in the Middle East. But he urged President Saddam to readmit weapons inspectors.
"We are for the return of the inspectors within an agreement, an understanding, between the government of Iraq and the secretary-general of the United Nations," Mr Moussa said.
Foreign ministers from 20 Arab states called for a "complete rejection of threats of aggression against some Arab countries, in particular Iraq".