He said the vote to authorize the president to order the use of force to topple Saddam Hussein was not a vehicle for mounting attacks in Iran, even to pursue cells or networks assisting insurgents or sectarian militias.

More curious, though, was the authority that Chalabi seemed to carry in Iran, which, after all, has been accused of assisting Iraqi insurgents and otherwise stirring up chaos there.

Some of the most important and influential in Latin America include assisting Salvadoran insurgents with Radio Venceremos and Radio Farabundo Marti.

He was active in the brickmasons' society at San Francisco, and it was even suggested by one contemporary source that he had assisted revolutionary insurgents in Guatemala.

Mr. Biden responded by saying that the vote to authorize the president to order the use of force to topple Saddam Hussein should not be used as a vehicle for mounting attacks inside Iran, even in pursuit of cells or networks assisting insurgents or sectarian militias.

The United States has accused Iran of assisting Shiite insurgents in Iraq with more advanced designs that are able to penetrate even some armored vehicles.

Mr. Gates said he had seen new intelligence analysis over the past couple of weeks "that makes it pretty clear there's a fairly substantial flow of weapons" from Iran across its border to assist insurgents in Afghanistan.

In August 1944 they decided to suspend their rules to assist wounded insurgents.

The Reagan Doctrine's overly broad pledge to assist anti-Communist insurgents is a legacy that cannot endure.