Bush mounted dishonest campaign to sell Iraq invasion, says ex-White House spokesman

· President 'manipulated truth to gain re-election'
· Administration stunned by McClellan's attack

A former senior aide to President Bush claims that the White House deliberately mounted a dishonest propaganda campaign to sell the Iraq invasion to the US public, in the most damning insider account of the presidency so far.

Scott McClellan, who worked for Bush for seven years, including three as White House spokesman, brands the war a "serious strategic blunder" and "not necessary".

The scathing comments stunned Washington yesterday because the Bush team, until now, has had a reputation for intense loyalty to their boss. Republican strategists and former White House colleagues turned on McClellan, accusing him of writing the book for the money and asking why, if he felt as he had, he did not resign at the time. The White House expressed sadness and puzzlement.

McClellan's comments are from What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, to be published on Monday but excerpts of which appeared on the Washington-based Politico website.

On Iraq, McClellan says Bush and his advisers "confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candour and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war". Guardian