The invasion of Iraq has greatly destabilised the country, President Bush admitted yesterday — but he still insisted that Iraqis should be grateful to America for starting the war.

 
 
As the White House scrambled to stem a flow of Republican defections over Mr Bush’s plan to send another 21,500 troops to Iraq, the President also admitted that the execution of Saddam Hussein had been mishandled, calling it discouraging.

In earlier private comments to news anchors he went much further, describing the ugly scenes during Saddam’s hanging as second only to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in terms of disastrous mistakes.

Mr Bush again strongly defended the invasion, saying that Saddam had been competing with Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and had been making the region unstable. But pressed on the issue, and told by a Fox News interviewer that Iraq was “much more unstable now, Mr President,”, Mr Bush replied: “Well, no question, decisions have made things unstable.”

He added: “I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it.” But toppling Saddam was not a mistake. “We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude and I believe most Iraqis express that.”

As he spoke, senior Administration officials fanned out to defend his controversial military “surge” strategy in the face of greater-than-expected popular and political opposition, particularly among Republicans. At least 16 Republican senators have either publicly opposed the escalation plan, or voiced scepticism. The defections have increased the likelihood of a Democrat-led congressional resolution opposing the surge.

Although such a resolution would have no practical effect — as Commander-in-Chief Mr Bush is free to ignore Congress on troop deployments — it would lay the ground for potentially overwhelming opposition if violence in Baghdad were not quelled.

Carl Levin, Democrat chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN that such a resolution would also send a “very, very strong message to the Iraqis that they must resolve their differences. There is not a military solution here. There is only a political solution, and that is in the hands of the Iraqis”.

The White House and Republican allies of Mr Bush — including the 2008 presidential hopeful Senator John McCain — have tried to focus on the consequences of defeat in Iraq. Spearheading that strategy yesterday, Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, insisted that congressional opposition would not deter Mr Bush from the course he had set. “The President is the Commander-in-Chief. He’ s the one who has to make these tough decisions. You cannot run a war by committee.”

Mr Cheney also repeated Mr Bush’s warnings to Iran, accusing Tehran of providing Iraqi insurgents with roadside bombs that are killing US troops. Iran was, he said, “fishing in troubled waters”.

He was speaking the day after Condoleezza Rice announced that Mr Bush had ordered a series of raids in Iraq that led to the arrest of six Iranian officials.

The Administration’s rhetoric has raised fears that Mr Bush is considering military action against Iran, although the White House denied any such intention.

Mr Bush is sending a second aircraft carrier battle group to the Gulf. He has also nominated Admiral William Fallon as the top military commander for the Middle East — a choice intended to send a clear message to Tehran that Washington is focusing on Iran’s activities in Iraq and its nuclear ambitions. Any mission against Tehran would rely heavily on carrier-based aircraft and missiles from the Gulf.

73% of US voters backed the invasion in 2003

70% are against sending more troops now