WASHINGTON, Sept 13: The Bush administration risks expanding the failed war in Afghanistan into Pakistan, says a US lawmaker while commenting on the US decision to conduct raids into Pakistani territory.

The question of sending US ground troops inside Pakistan seems to have become an

election issue in the United States where voters are scheduled to elect a new president on Nov 4.

There’s a bipartisan support for conducting raids into Fata on suspected terrorist targets, although some lawmakers have spoken against the move as well.

“The president is once again violating international law by invading yet another nation which has not attacked the United States,” said Congressman Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat.

“Pakistan is a nuclear flash point on the Asian subcontinent … the United States under George Bush is playing with fire,” he warned.

One day before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Rep. Kucinich presented a petition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with 50,000 signatures urging the impeachment of President Bush -- adding to the 100,000 he has already filed.

Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott, who has also signed on to the resolution, warned the Bush administration to stop war-mongering.

“The sounds we are hearing and the signals we are seeing from the administration remind me of the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq,” said Mr McDermott, also a Democrat, while commenting on the Bush administration’s new policy of enhanced military engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Congressman Kucinich, however, was more forceful in his denouncement. He reminded President Bush that the situation in Pakistan ‘requires intense diplomacy,’ and urged Congress to block pursuance of the dangerous path.

“The president is once again violating international law by invading yet another nation which has not attacked the United States. Once again, he places our troops and our reputation at risk. Once again, he creates more enemies for America,” Mr Kucinich said in a statement.

“Pakistan’s objections to the illegal US Predator strikes inside the country’s border should be a clear indication of how Pakistan would respond to another illegal attack upon their sovereign nation,’ he added.