A former leading CIA official said on Sunday that the White House deliberately ignored intelligence that showed that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Tyler Drumheller, who was once the highest-ranking CIA officer in Europe, told CBS's "60 Minutes" programme that the White House shifted its focus to regime change in the months before the invasion.

"The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy," Drumheller said.

Meanwhile a leaked Pentagon document showed that Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, is pressing ahead with plans to reshape the armed forces despite recent criticism of his stewardship from several retired military officers. Plans approved last month by Rumsfeld and leaked to the Washington Post revealed the increasing use of special forces and an increased role for the military in areas that have been the domain of the CIA.

Drumheller, who had a senior role in the run-up to the war, told "60 Minutes" that the CIA provided the White House with information from Iraq's then foreign minister, Naji Sabri, who had reportedly made a deal with the United States.

"(The source) told us that there were no active weapons of mass destruction programmes," Drumheller said. He said that the then-CIA director, George Tenet, passed the information on to George Bush, Dick Cheney, the vice-president, and other senior officials, who were initially excited. But that changed, he said.

"The (White House) group that was dealing with preparation for the Iraq war came back and said they were no longer interested. And we said, 'Well, what about the intel?' And they said, 'Well, this isn't about intel anymore. This is about regime change'."

Drumheller said the decision to invade Iraq would be remembered as a grave mistake. "It just sticks in my craw every time I hear them say it's an intelligence failure ... This was a policy failure ... I think, over time, people will look back on this and see this is going to be one of the great, I think, policy mistakes of all time," he said.

LA Times urges Cheney's retirement

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles Times editorial on Sunday called for a "far more audacious" makeover of President George W. Bush's administration, saying he should send Cheney into early retirement.

Earlier this week, Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan resigned and Karl Rove gave up his policy role as part of a White House sweep aimed at reviving Bush's sagging job-approval ratings ahead of November's pivotal mid-term elections.

"The remaking of the president in the public eye likely will require more than last week's game of musical chairs," the editorial said.

"Bush has acknowledged that he has spent much of his political capital on Iraq, and the way to replenish the reserves is to replace the officials most associated with the overreaching that led to the tragedy in Iraq and with the administration's broader disdain for diplomacy," the paper said.

Cheney told CBS television's "Face the Nation" on March 19 he had no intention of resigning. "I didn't ask for this job. I didn't campaign for it. I got drafted," Cheney said. "I've now been elected to a second term," he told CBS. "I'll serve out my term."

Source: China Daily