"It is clear that the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction programs," Feith, the US undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

"The principal error in the intelligence was whether the Iraqis had stockpiles as opposed to programs. What we found is they had the programs, they didn't have the stockpiles," he said.

Feith, who has announced his decision to resign before the summer, argued that "there was a sound strategic rationale for what was done in Iraq" in light of Iraq's possession and use of weapons of mass destruction in the past.

"I think the world is much better off for the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime and I think, as the election yesterday shows, the Iraqi people are much better off," Feith said.

"The Iraqi people showed up by the millions to defy people who were threatening to kill them if they voted... It was an important day and a great accomplishment," he added.

Washington said earlier this month that it had stopped searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- one of its key reasons for invading the country in March 2003 -- and a report saying there are no such weapons to find there would likely stand.

Feith said the United States was committed to withdrawing from Iraq after achieving its "strategic purpose to put the Iraqis in a position where they can run their own country, where they can govern themselves and they can defend themselves."

Feith has been a highly influential figure in the small circle of advisers who surrounded Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as he led the United States into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while waging a broader campaign against Islamic extremists.

He left his mark on a range of controversial defense policies over the past four years -- a new policy on nuclear forces, the policy of preemption to protect the United States against attacks with weapons of mass destruction, and the much criticized post-war planning for Iraq.

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