British official says U.S. ignored advice

LONDON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A former British defense secretary said in a newspaper interview that the United States ignored advice against disbanding the Iraqi army.

Geoff Hoon, now minister of state for Europe, was in the defense post during the invasion of Iraq and the aftermath. He changed jobs last year.

Hoon told the Daily Telegraph that he and Prime Minister Tony Blair "lost the argument" with the United States on disbanding the army and on de-Baathification.

"We were very concerned in the final stages of the conflict that the Iraqi army was a force for stability in Iraq and I think we would have preferred for that army to remain intact," he said. "I don't think we would have pursued the de-Baathification policy in quite the same way."

Hoon said British officials understood from experience in Europe that many people only joined the Baath Party because they were required to for jobs as teachers or civil servants.

The decision to disband the army and to purge Baath party members was made by Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Political Authority, in May 2003. Both decisions are regarded by many critics as speeding the growth of the insurgency.