Former British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, who resigned from the government in protest against Britain's decision to join the US-led war against Iraq, on Sunday said he wanted the British troops to return home before more of them were killed.

"It is ok for (US President George) Bush to say the war will go on for as long as it takes. He is sitting pretty in the comfort of Camp David protected by scores of securitymen to keep him safe," Cook wrote in an article in Sunday Mirror.

Stating that the war in Iraq was turning out to be "badly planned,"  he said: "It is easy to show you are resolute when you are not one of the poor guys stuck in a sandstorm peering around for snipers. This week British forces have shown bravery under attack and determination in atrocious weather conditions. They are too disciplined to say it, but they must have asked each other how British forces ended up exposed by the mistakes of US politicians."

"We were told the Iraqi army would be so joyful to be attacked that it would not fight. A close colleague of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted the march to Baghdad would be a 'cakewalk'. We were told Saddam's troops would surrender. A few days before the war Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that the Republican Guard would lay down their weapons.

"Personally I would like to volunteer Rumsfeld, Cheney and (James) Wolfowitz to be 'embedded' alongside the journalists with the forward units," Cook said adding "that would give them a chance to hear what the troops fighting for
every bridge over the Euphrates think about their promises. 

"A better way could have been not to start a war which was never necessary and is turning out to be badly planned,"
he said.