Blair committed troops in Iraq knowing US had no post-war plan

LONDON: Prime Minister Tony Blair committed British troops to fight in Iraq inspite of full knowledge that Washington had no post-war reconstruction plan for the violence-torn country.

Blair's key aides and friends have revealed that Blair repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.

He also agreed to commit troops to the conflict, even though US President George W Bush had personally said Britain could help "some other way", The Observer reported on Sunday.

The disclosures, made by Blair's close allies in a two-part Channel 4 documentary, will raise questions about Blair's assurances to his party at the time of the war in 2003 that he was satisfied with the post-war planning.

Peter Mandelson told the channel that the Prime Minister knew the preparations were inadequate but said he was powerless to do more.

The documentary to be broadcast next week is presented by Andrew Rawnsley, who is also The Observer's chief political correspondent.

"Obviously more attention should have been paid to what happened after, to the planning and what we would do once Saddam had been toppled," Mandelson told Rawnsley in an interview.

"But I remember him saying at the time: 'Look, you know, I can't do everything.  That's chiefly America's responsibility, not ours.'"

Opponents of the war, who have long claimed that the Pentagon planned a short, sharp offensive to overthrow Saddam Hussein with little thought of the consequences, claimed last night that the programme vindicated their criticisms.

The Observer quoted Jeremy Greenstock, a former British Envoy to Baghdad, as saying that Blair "was tearing his hair over some of the deficiencies" in planning for the stabilisation and reconstruction of the country.

"There were moments of throwing his hands in the air," said Greenstock, who was Britain's representative in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.

David Manning, the current British ambassador in Washington told the Channel 4 documentary that Blair was "very exercised" about post-war planning as early as March 2002, a year before the invasion.

"All these issues needed to be thrashed out," Manning was quoted as saying.

"It wasn't to say that they weren't thinking about them, but I didn't see the evidence at that stage that these things had been thoroughly rehearsed and thoroughly thought through."

Manning visited Washington in March 2002 at Blair's request and on his return sent Blair a memo warning that "there is a real risk that the (Bush) administration underestimates the difficulties" in Iraq.

Blair's office has declined to comment on the documentary before it was broadcast.