Insider blasts handling of Iraq war

Former U.S. Under Secretary for Defense Douglas Feith attacks Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer in his book, 'War and Decision', to be published next month.

He also confirms the long-held suspicion that the Bush administration had decided on war long before UN weapons inspectors had delivered their verdict on Iraq's alleged 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' capability. According to Feith, President Bush declared war was 'inevitable' at a meeting of the National Security Council on December 18th 2002. Colin Powell is criticised for allowing himself to be portrayed as a dove publicly but never privately opposing war while Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser during most of Feith's time in office, failed in her primary task of coordinating policy on the war. General Franks is described as being uninterested in post-war reconstruction. Although Feith remains a supporter of the original decision to invade he recognises in extracts published on MSNBC that;

the task of creating a viable and stable Iraqi government was poorly executed and remains "grimly incomplete."

He blames the;

"the mishandling of the political transition."

and in particular the abandonment of a plan he drew up for a Iraqi Interim Authority made up of a group of hand-picked Iraqis to share decision making with the occupying US forces.