The US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has denied that he had overruled US military planners on the war strategy in Iraq.
The Defence Secretary was asked about reports in the New Yorker Magazine and other media that he repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armour would be needed to fight a war in Iraq.
An article in the New Yorker magazine quoting unnamed Pentagon sources says Mr Rumsfeld forced military chiefs to accept his own strategy.
Speaking on US television Mr Rumsfeld praised the war plan of General Tommy Franks, the head of the US Central Command, but warned that tougher times are ahead.
