PARIS, April 3: French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said on Thursday the United States made a moral, political and strategic mistake by starting war in Iraq.

“The Americans made a triple mistake: First of all a moral mistake, I think...there was an alternative to war. We could have disarmed Iraq differently,” Mr Raffarin said in an interview on France 3 television.

“Also, (they made) a political mistake, because we know very well the difficulties of this region of the world,” he added. “And then, there is a strategic mistake: this idea that today one country can lead the world.” —Reuters