Pentagon insider, Douglas Feith, attacks war plan, Powell, Bush [View All]

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Pentagon insider attacks war plan

A former Pentagon official has written a book attacking Colin Powell, the CIA and other US officials over the US-led Iraq war, the Washington Post reports.

As under secretary of defence until 2005 Douglas Feith was closely involved with the planning of the invasion.

However, in "War and Decision", he blames officials outside the Pentagon for seriously mismanaging the invasion and occupation, the Post reports.

Out next month, it is the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making.

The newspaper says that Mr Feith accuses intelligence officials and the US state department, led at the time by Mr Powell, of repeatedly scuppering defence department plans for the invasion.

According to the Post, Mr Feith claims that US President George W Bush told a National Security Council meeting "war is inevitable" weeks before a team of UN weapons inspectors, headed by Hans Blix, had made their final report on Saddam Hussein's weapons capabilities.

'More harm than good'

Mr Feith reportedly singles Mr Powell out for criticism, saying that though he allowed himself to be portrayed as a dove, he never spoke out against the war.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7286683.stm