A call went out yesterday for US troops to leave Iraq now, stating that President George W Bush's plan to stabilise the country through military means is a lost cause.

"It is time for the US to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organise an orderly exit," the The New York Times wrote yesterday in a rare, single-issue editorial taking up one-half of an entire news page.

"Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the US out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilise the country afterward," the daily wrote.

But it has since emerged, the Times concluded, that Bush has "neither the vision nor the means to do that.

"It is frighteningly clear that Mr Bush's plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost," the daily opined.

The Times editorial went on: "Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation's alliances and its military forces ... It is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles."

The article by the influential newspaper - the latest sign of increasing public restiveness on Iraq - comes as a growing number of Bush's formerly loyal Republican backers on the Iraq question have defected and begun calling for US troop withdrawal.

PHOTO CAPTION

US President George W. Bush waves upon return to the White House 08 July 2007 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

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