Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice laughs during the second day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Jan.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and other Democrats assailed President Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq Tuesday and declared they would oppose Condoleezza Rice's nomination as secretary of state as a principal architect of a failed policy.

Kennedy, of Massachusetts, keyed the Democratic attack with charges that Rice, as Bush's national security adviser, provided Congress with "false reasons" for going to war. Had she not, he said in a speech, "it might have changed the course of history."

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., following up, accused the Bush administration of lying and said he was voting against Rice's confirmation as a way of trying to stop mistruths.

And Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., charged she concealed the Central Intelligence Agency's skepticism that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium for a nuclear weapons program from Africa.

Rice claimed there was a "consensus" within the administration on on Iraq's activity when the Department of Energy and the State Department had reservations. "She exaggerated and distorted the facts," Levin said.

On what was shaping up as a long day for the nominee and the president who promoted her to chief U.S. diplomat, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said "we have a moral obligation to provide better leadership."

"Those in charge must be held accountable for mistakes," Bayh said, even while saying the administration was attempting to do the right thing in Iraq.

On the other hand, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex., agreed that while mistakes were made it was wrong to rehash them. She lauded Rice for a "steady hand" in staying the course on the war on terrorism.

"I think Condoleezza Rice is the most qualified person" for the job, she said.

Rice's confirmation as Colin Powell's replacement appeared not to be in doubt. Sens. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia and Barbara Boxer of California are among other Democrats lined up to get their licks in Tuesday, even though many Democrats may wind up in Rice's column when the vote is taken.

Two Democrats, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Ken Salazar of Colorado, spoke in Rice's favor before the Senate took a luncheon recess.

Republicans rallied behind Rice - and President Bush - with briefer speeches. Nine hours have been set aside for the debate, divided equally between the two parties.

Byrd and Boxer, opponents of the war from the outset, had one-hour speeches scheduled. They consider the war a mistake and Bush's postwar strategy inadequate as determined insurgents take a rising toll of American casualties. They hold Rice at least partly responsible, since she was Bush's White House national security adviser during his first term.

On Wednesday, a brief series of statements by senators is expected, setting up the vote to put Rice in charge of U.S. diplomacy.

"We are talking about the safety and security of this country, so I very much and very quickly want to move with Secretary Rice," Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said Tuesday. Frist said he was disappointed by the delay and was confident the Senate would confirm her on Wednesday.

The White House had been confident that Rice would be approved last week, and State Department officials were alerted to show up Friday morning to greet her with smiles and applause.

During two days of sometimes testy hearings last week, Rice acknowledged some bad decisions on Iraq by the Bush administration and that desertions and poor leadership within Iraqi security forces were hampering the country's defense.