OTTAWA, Feb 10: The Bush administration had expressed "anger and Irritation" when Ottawa refused to join the allied forces that invaded Baghdad, according to Michael Kergin, Canada's outgoing ambassador to Washington.

In a detailed interview with The Toronto Star, the 62-year-old career diplomat revealed for the first time the shock and disbelief in the Bush administration when Prime Minister Jean Chritien decided to keep Canadian troops out of Iraq.

He said that administration insiders had all but ignored the diplomatic signals from Ottawa in the runup to the invasion. Despite all the signs and statements from Ottawa about the need for United Nations backing, the decision somehow still caught official Washington off guard, he said.

"It's like you can't quite believe it when you're told it and you really believe in the end it would happen. And in this case, it didn't."

The US State Department and National Security Council both used the term "disappointment", as did US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, but the tone of the reaction Kergin received indicated anger and irritation, even if those words were never used.

"What I kept hearing from up on (Capitol) Hill, was 'You were with us in World War II, you were always with us, how could you let us down now?'

"I'd hear 'You were with us in Korea, how could you not be with us', ignoring entirely the sort of unilateral approach to Iraq. That just doesn't figure in their thinking," said Kergin, who retires at the end of this month.

Kergin also said he did not believe the Bush administration's Ballistic missile defence program would lead to weapons in space, casting doubt on a key concern used by Prime Minister Paul Martin for his reluctance to sign on to the plan.