White, who left the Defense Department after a series of disagreements with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, insisted that the United States will now need a long term presence in Iraq.

He told the USA Today newspaper that senior US officials "are unwilling to come to grips" with the scale of the commitment that the United States must now make to Iraq after invading to bring down Saddam Hussein.

White said the United States would need more than 100,000 troops in Iraq for at least one year to provide stability.

There are about 150,000 US forces in Iraq at the moment but defense officials have admitted that they may have to review plans to let some units return to the United States following a series of attacks on US forces and widespread insecurity in Baghdad and other cities.

"This is not what they were selling" before the war, White told the newspaper about comments by top defense officials that a large occupation force would not be needed.

"It's almost a question of people not wanting to 'fess (face) up to the notion that we will be there a long time and they have to set up a rotation and sustain for the long term."

USA Today said there was a long series of disputes between Rumsfeld and White. It added that Rumsfeld was furious when White agreed with army chief of staff General Eric Shinseki in February that several hundred thousand troops might be needed in Iraq.

WAR.WIRE