US Republican presidential candidate John McCain has attacked former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld by saying he will be remembered as one of the worst in history.
"We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement - that's the kindest word I can give you - of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war," the Arizona senator told a an audience in South Carolina. "The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously."
Mr McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, complained that Mr Rumsfeld never put enough troops on the ground to succeed in Iraq.
"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defence in history," Mr McCain said to applause.
The comments were in sharp contrast to Mr McCain's statement when Mr Rumsfeld resigned in November.
"While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans' respect and gratitude for his many years of public service," Mr McCain said last year when Mr Rumsfeld stepped down.
On a two-day campaign trip in South Carolina, Mr McCain said the United States can succeed in Iraq with additional troops and a new strategy.
He has been a strong proponent of using more troops and favours Mr Bush's increase of some 21,500 US forces in the nearly four-year-old war.
"I have been saying for three-and-a-half years that we would be in this sad situation and this critical situation we are in today," Mr McCain said.
AP