WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (AFP) - A leading Republican lawmaker, who is leaving Congress this month, has reversed his support for the US-led war in Iraq, citing "massive failure or misinterpretation" of the intelligence on which he based his earlier stance.
"Knowing what I now know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) maintained a substantial WMD (weapons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the preemptive military action was not justified," Representative Doug Bereuter wrote in a four-page letter to constituents.
Bereuter, a Nebraska representative, is leaving Congress at the end of this month to take over the presidency of the Asia Foundation, a non-profit group which seeks to foster closer ties between Asia and the United States.
Bereuter, a leading figure on the House of Represenatives' International Relations and Intelligence committees said that because of the US military action, "our country's reputation around the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened."
Bereuter said domestic fallout from the invasion has been substantial.
"The cost in casualties is already large and growing," he said in the letter, "and the immediate and long-term financial costs are incredible."
Bereuter offered qualified support for the war during congressional debate in 2002, voting to authorize the use of force to overthrow Saddam, but voicing his wish during floor debate for a broader international coalition to do so, among other reservations.