He said the decision to forcefully disarm Iraq's President Saddam Hussein of his alleged weapons of mass destruction was "the right choice," stressing it is not "a war of conquest but of liberation."

He said the coalition was "doing all that is humanly possible to minimize civilian casualties and finish this campaign quickly," adding that Britain "was working hard to bring immediate humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people," and would later assist in the country's reconstruction.

Brushing off anti-war groups' criticism that the coalition's decision to go to war was mainly motivated by Iraqi oil, Blair wrote that he, US President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar "have pledged Iraq's oil will be placed in a UN trust fund to benefit the people of Iraq."

"We will work towards lifting UN sanctions as soon as Iraq meets its obligations," he said in reference to the embargo on Saddam's regime in force since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

"British military forces will withdraw from Iraq as soon as practicable. We hope to see the early establishment of a transitional civilian administration," Blair also wrote without further elaborating.

He expressed hope that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process would be positively affected by the war in Iraq.

And he reiterated his commitment "to a fair, lasting and negotiated settlement by 2005 to provide a viable state of the Palestinian people and security for Israel."

SPACE.WIRE