“We thought, why should we continue to cooperate?” he said.

Bush administration officials said Syria’s stance had prompted intense debate at high levels in the administration about new steps that might be taken against the Damascus government.

The officials said the options included possible military, diplomatic or economic action.

But senior Pentagon and military officials cautioned Monday that if any military action was ordered, it was likely to be limited to insurgent movements along the border.

U.S. military officers in Baghdad and intelligence analysts in Washington say that insurgent cells inside Iraq draw on “unlimited money” from an underground financial network run by former Baath Party leaders and relatives of Hussein, many of whom they say found safe haven to live and operate in Syria.