They said the same thing about Afghanistan, too, where the Taliban now controls much of the countryside.

"A senior British Army officer has sparked indignation in the US with a scathing article criticising the US Army's performance in Iraq.

"Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster said US tactics early in the occupation had alienated Iraqis and exacerbated problems for the coalition.

"Officers displayed cultural ignorance, self-righteousness, over-optimism and unproductive management, he said.

"The article, in Military Review, has drawn US criticism but also approval.

"In it Brig Aylwin-Foster says American officers displayed such cultural insensitivities that it "arguably amounted to institutional racism" and may have helped spur the insurgency."

The neocons, sitting at home, will deny this.