President Clinton faces almost certain impeachment today when the House of Representatives is expected to vote to send him for trial by the Senate for "high crimes and misdemeanours". But opinion polls show that about 60 per cent of Americans prefer censure to impeachment.
Democrats in the impeachment debate which began yesterday accused Republicans of undermining Mr Clinton's role as Commander-in-Chief while military strikes against Iraq were still in progress.
In Baghdad, wave after wave of missiles crashed onto the city early today as the United States and Britain continued their punishing air strikes. Loud blasts shook the city centre shortly before dawn as Iraqi anti-aircraft fire criss-crossed the sky.
The wave of bombing raids and cruise missile strikes - the third - was launched last night hours before the start of the Muslim holy season of Ramadan. The US will assess the effects of air strikes over the weekend but gave no assurance that Ramadan meant they would come to an end.
Iraqi government leaders, including President Saddam Hussein, delivered messages of solidarity to the country, urging residents to resist the foreign enemy.
At the end of the second wave of strikes, the US had fired more cruise missiles than in the 1991 Gulf War, officials said. Some 75 targets had been attacked, and the amount of damage varied.
Iraq's armed forces said yesterday they had shot down 77 out of 305 missiles in the first two days of air strikes.
Meanwhile, calls for the resignation of President Clinton if he is impeached were rejected by Vice-President Al Gore and the White House press secretary, Mr Joe Lockhart.
Mr Gore said he was "fighting mad" about the Republican handling of the impeachment process. "It is dead wrong. And they think that people are not going to remember this. Well, I think they may be dead wrong about that, too."
The Republican majority is expected to vote for articles of impeachment which include perjury arising from Mr Clinton's denial under oath of having had sexual relations with the former White House intern, Ms Monica Lewinsky.
Mr Clinton would be the first president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson in 1868 if one or more of the four articles of impeachment are approved.
The Senate would then have to arrange for a trial of Mr Clinton some time next year, but he carries on as President.
In what was seen as her first public comment on the impeachment process, Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed for reconciliation and "to end divisiveness" during the Christmas festive season.
In a brief comment to reporters in the grounds of the White House, Mrs Clinton said that "the vast majority of Americans share my approval and pride in the job the President has been doing for our country". Mrs Clinton is to address Democrats in the House of Representatives today before the impeachment vote.
President Clinton tried to stay detached from the impeachment drama playing out on Capitol Hill as he took part in an EU-US summit after being briefed about the air strikes on Iraq. Mr Clinton also had a meeting with a Republican congressman, Mr Christopher Shays, who has said he prefers censure of the President to impeachment.
The debate yesterday ran for 12 hours along predictable party lines. Mr Peter King of New York was one of the very few Republicans who broke ranks to say that the President's conduct, although disgraceful, did not deserve impeachment.
Mr Joe Kennedy, in his last appearance in the House, made an impassioned plea against impeachment, saying that the American people had forgiven him.
The Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, is sending a peace envoy to Baghdad, it was announced.