Iraq war Britain's greatest blunder since Suez: Cook

"The Iraq war is proving the greatest blunder in British foreign and security policy since Suez," he said. "The war has neither disarmed a single weapon of mass destruction nor diminished the terrorist threat to British interests."

"It has, though, undermined the authority of the UN, divided us from our major partners in Europe and damaged our status in the Third World, especially in Muslim countries," added Cook, who resigned his post as the government minister in charge of relations with parliament last March in protest at British involvement in the Iraq conflict without UN approval.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

He also questioned British Prime Minister Tony Blair's motives for joining the US-led war that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The truth is that Tony Blair did not take Britain into Iraq because of any evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He joined in the war because he wanted to prove to (US) President (George W) Bush that Tony Blair was his best friend and Britain was his most reliable ally.

Cook, who has been sniping at Blair since he left government, also dismissed as a "diversion" the probe announced by the prime minister to determine whether flawed intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction was used to justify the war to remove Saddam Hussein.

"The Bulter inquiry is a diversion, set up to examine the pretext for war rather than its origins," Cook said.

Lord Robin Bulter, a former head of Britain's Civil service, will head the probe into Britain's pre-war intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and report before July.

"It will be a gross injustice if the intelligence services get the blame," Cook added.

Blair, who previously insisted that Iraq did possess banned weapons, said he had acted in good faith in joining the United States in invading Iraq last March.