London: A day after demanding that British troops be withdrawn before more of them are killed, Robin Cook made a somersault saying he did not favour abandoning the battle or "letting Saddam off the hook".

Cook, who had put in his papers as leader of the House of Commons disagreeing with Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to go ahead with the war without a second UN resolution, had called in an article in the 'Sunday Mirror' for British troops to be brought home from this "bloody and unnecessary war".

Home Secretary David Blunkett, who was dispatched by Blair to stamp on Cook, took to the airwaves to mount a savage attack, questioning the former Foreign Secretary's patriotism and asking who he wanted to win the war.

"Robin resigned with great dignity and put his argument with great force, but it's hard to retain that dignity or force if you advocate capitulation after just 10 days," Blunkett said.

Softening his stand, Cook told Radio 4's 'World this Weekend' on March 30 that he did not favour abandoning the battle or "letting Saddam off the hook".

His latest stand came in for attack with his critics saying that he was "doing a Clare Short" – by taking a tough stance, then backing down.

Clare Short, International Development Secretary had threatened to quit the Cabinet if Blair went ahead with war without UN sanctions but later relented on the issue.

In his article Cook singled out the "neo-conservative dogma" of the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as most blameworthy for coalition setbacks. He also pointedly recalled being told by his Cabinet colleagues that it would be "a quick, easy war".

"I just hope those who expected a quick victory are proved right," he wrote. "I have already had my fill of this bloody and unnecessary war. I want our troops home and I want them home before more of them are killed."

But Cook told the BBC on March 30 night, "I wasn't in favour of starting this war, but having started this war, it's important to win it. The worst possible outcome will be one which left Saddam there."

Cook, who denied any wish to overthrow Tony Blair, repeated his warnings of the likely horrors that would attend a siege of Baghdad, ruining all hopes of post-war friendship with the Iraqi people.

"You can already see some of the consequences of that in Basra, which is without water, without power, where there is very serious risk of humanitarian tragedy developing there. We were promised we would be greeted as liberators, and that's not happened yet," he said.

PTI