Former Cabinet minister Robin Cook has come under fire from the home secretary after strongly criticising the decision to take military action against Iraq.

The former leader of the House of Commons said events in the Middle East were "bloody and unnecessary".

But after being criticised for speaking out while troops are risking their lives, Cook later said he wanted to see a swift victory for the US and Britain.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, the former foreign secretary had attacked president Bush for launching a war from "the comfort of Camp David".

He called for US vice president Dick Cheney and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld to be "embedded" with troops in the same way that journalists have been so they could experience the reality of war.

"I have already had my fill of this bloody and unnecessary war," Cook wrote.

"I want our troops home and I want them home before more of them are killed."

He also said the war was "never necessary and is turning out to be badly planned".

But the comments prompted strongly worded criticism from a series of senior ministers.

David Blunkett accused Cook of wanting to see a British "capitulation".

"I think those who take the view that Robin Cook has enunciated in his article today are mistaken," the home secretary told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost.

"Robin resigned with great dignity, he put his argument with great force, but it's hard to retain that dignity or force if you advocate capitulation after just 10 days."

And Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said withdrawing allied troops would "leave Saddam Hussein in place and leave his butchery to continue".

"This is not the time to say these things Robin, and I am sorry you have done it," O'Brien told the BBC.

Cook later sought to clarify his position.

"I am not in favour of abandoning the battlefield and that is not my position. There can be no question at this stage of letting Saddam off the hook," he told Radio 4's The World This Weekend.

"I wasn't in favour of starting this war, but having started this war, it's important to win it.

"The worst possible outcome will be one which left Saddam there."

As the row continued, Number 10 said the military campaign would be pushed forward.

"Robin Cook has a well known position on Iraq - it is not one that is shared by the prime minister," a Downing Street statement said.

"As [Tony Blair] said in Camp David we will see the campaign through until it has achieved its objectives of getting rid of Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction."

The latest opinion poll indicates continued backing for the government's position.

An ICM survey for the News of the World found that 84 per cent of those questioned believe the war should continue until the objectives are met.