He added, "We did not reconstitute civil authority fast enough" to aid in the recovery of the nation.

However, the former Secretary of State defended the decision to go to war, saying that if military action had not been taken to oust Saddam Hussein, sanctions would have been lifted, allowing him to reconstitute his armaments and once again become a threat to the region.

On the issue of the build-up of Iraq's defense forces, he said it must proceed rapidly to allow for reduction of American forces. The current strain on both the U.S. military and reserve forces cannot continue, he cautioned, making it all the more necessary for a troop cutback to begin next year.

Mr. Powell, who was a four-star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Bush administration, said the U.S. must be successful in Iraq and cannot allow the nation to descend into civil war.

"We have to stay the course," he said. "The stakes are too high."

On the intelligence failure by the administration and others during the lead-up to the war, Mr. Powell said the intelligence was the same that the rest of the world had believed for years about Weapons of Mass Destruction. He said it would later be discovered that the information had come from "bums" that disseminated false information.

"In this case [the intelligence community] blew it," he said. "They got that one wrong."

On the economy, Mr. Powell said the nation lacks an energy policy, but there is no impetus to develop one.

"I do not see the political will from the White House or anywhere else," he observed, and "I do not see the American people conveying that desire."

He said he is also troubled by the mounting deficit, noting that the national debt is primarily financed by the purchase of Treasury Bills by Japan and China. Should they decide to sell them, he remarked, "we will be in trouble."

Mr. Powell did not address the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act; however, Monday's speaker, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, said that it only made common sense that its renewal was necessary (reported by NU on Monday).

"Insurance should be there when disasters arise," she noted.