Press scathing on Bush U-turn

Papers in the Middle East scrutinise US President George W Bush's apparent decision to launch an inquiry into the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq.

Some papers question the integrity of the US and UK in waging war on the basis of what they see as unreliable intelligence.

Others again cast doubt on whether the US-led coalition is achieving its general objectives in Iraq.

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US President George Bush has told a news conference that he wants to know the truth, just as the US public does, on the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. What sparked this was the expert, David Kay, who completely denied the weapons' existence. The US administration will remain, in the eyes of the American people, a platform of mistrust and suspicion.

Egypt's Al-Akhbar

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The last I heard about George Bush was that he was no longer still insisting that Iraq had WMD. Nevertheless, he said that Saddam Hussein represented a big threat to America and the world. How could that be, when the man did not have WMD? How could the US have attacked him on assumptions of what might have happened? This is justice the American way.

Jihad al-Khazan in London-based newspaper Al-Hayat

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A year ago this week US Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed Iraq had an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons almost fully ready for use and that Saddam's nuclear-armament and long-range missile development programme was at a very advanced stage. Powell's speech constituted the apex of an international intelligence blunder that must be investigated by independent professional committees.

Israel's Yediot Aharonot

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The Hutton report does not (and was not asked to) answer the more interesting question: How was it that the intelligence reports were so wrong?

Ofer Shelah in Israel's Yediot Aharonot

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Despite the US announcement that it would restore freedom and democracy in Iraq after removing the former Iraqi regime, it is still far from realising that.

Abdallah al-Qaqi in Jordan's Al-Dustur

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Holding any elections in the current situation would be a disaster for Iraq and its people's future.

Ghazi al-Jasim in Kuwait's Al-Qabas

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An Iraqi interim government and establishment of an Iraqi ministry will not bring the solution any nearer. The Iraqi people need a transitional period for them to comprehend the need for democracy, but the US occupation will not give them room to effect the transformation they are trying to put in place.

Zuhayr Majid in Oman's Al-Watan

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BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.