Hague calls for Iraq inquiry

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He called for a report to parliament when it returns in October and said many of the judgments the Americans had made were wrong.

Major General Tim Cross, the most senior UK officer involved in the post-war planning, said that Washington's policy had been "fatally flawed".

He also insisted he had raised serious concerns about the possibility of the country sliding into chaos with Donald Rumsfeld - but the then-US defence secretary "dismissed" the warnings.

Gen Cross's comments, in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, emerged after the former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, branded the American approach "intellectually bankrupt".

Sir Mike, who was in charge at the time of the 2003 invasion, also singled out Mr Rumsfeld for criticism, saying his claim that US forces "don't do nation-building" was "nonsensical".

Mr Hague told Sky News Sunday with Adam Boulton: "We do think there have been many mistakes made. We would like to see a full-scale inquiry.

"I think some of the comments from one or two of the retired generals very much do strengthen the case for that and we want to see a full report when it gets back on Iraq,"

He said of post-war American policy: "I think many of the judgements they came to were wrong. They clearly underestimated the number of troops that would be needed for an effective occupation force.

"Very crucial mistakes have been made. Understanding those and making sure they are not repeated in the future is one of the reasons we have to have that inquiry. They thought it would be much easier to win the peace than it was to win the war and it turned out to be the other way round."