Colonel says Iraq plan was half-baked

Published on Sunday 30 September 2007 01:23

A COLONEL who left the British Army in disgust after he was accused of war crimes has attacked Tony Blair's "half-baked plan" for Iraq.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 43, commander of the former Queen's Lancashire Regiment, was cleared of failing to ensure his men did not mistreat civilians detained in Iraq in September 2003.

After the trial in February, he said he would think "deeply" about his future and, although he initially returned to duties, he later resigned after a military career of more than 25 years.

He said he resigned because he felt he had been "hung out to dry" and made to feel like a "common criminal" by his commanders.

Now free to give his opinion of the military plan for Iraq, he said that Tony Blair "sent us into Basra with exactly the sort of half-baked plan that gets soldiers killed".

Mendonca said he had trained his soldiers for war. "I got there to discover that there was this vague notion that we would 'rebuild' Basra. Fair enough. The problem was that no one had any clue how this could be achieved.

"It was breaking the first rule of military combat - you simply do not go into a country without an exit plan."

He said the plan to win over the people of Basra did not work as they did not think things were improving when they saw "open warfare" on the streets and still had no electricity.

Mendonca hit the headlines when it was alleged some of his men abused Iraqi prisoners, keeping them hooded, cuffed and deprived of sleep for 36 hours and beating them for failing to hold stress positions.

One of the prisoners, hotel receptionist and father-of-two Baha Mousa, 26, died.

Mendonca, upon learning of Mousa's death, initiated the inquiry which resulted in charges being brought, including against himself.