Chickenhawk has doubts

Douglas Feith has admitted to the Washington Post that too few troops have been deployed in the war on Iraq. He also critiscised American policy of not transferring power early enough and the lack of any real plan to train Iraqi exiles before the war to help the US.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Mr Feith expressed doubts over whether the right balance was struck on the size of the invasion force in Iraq.

He said: "I am not asserting to you that I know that the answer is, we did it right. What I am saying is it's an extremely complex judgement to know whether the course that we chose with its pros and cons was more sensible."

The US military has faced criticism that its current 135,000-strong force in Iraq is too small to curb the insurgency.

Mr Feith said "course corrections" also had to be made because of policy misjudgements.

The Pentagon said in January that Mr Feith, who oversaw the Office of Special Plans, was stepping down for personal reasons. Critics claim his office misrepresented intelligence on Iraq before the war.