India must play a role in establishing peace in Iraq, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Friday while releasing Major General (retd) Ashok Mehta's book War Despatches: Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He said the arc of instability that stretches from Afghanistan to Iraq, Gulf region and West Asia is of great importance to India.

Instability in the region must be brought to an end, he said.

But he warned that restoration of peace is not an easy task; it requires patience and statesmanship on the part of the international coalition.

Gen Mehta's book is a compilation of his daily analysis of Operation Iraqi Freedom and his thoughts on the current situation.

The articles, which originally appeared in a Malayalam daily, have numerous precise predictions, including about the fall of Baghdad. Most interesting are his comparisons between the US war and the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

The progress of America's 3 Infantry Division in three weeks covering some 600km was the fastest in military history. "It was quite unique," Gen Mehta said at the launch.

The Iraq operation was quite interesting from a military point of view because instead of waiting for a replacing division, the same 3 Division went into Baghdad and completed the operation, Gen Mehta pointed out. And from there went to Tikrit.

Such results were possible because of American quick thinking, unconventional approach, improvisation and decentralisation of command, he said.

However, there have been several bloomers in American thinking, the general said, and added that India was able to exit from Bangladesh without any embarrassment.

"We were able to ensure not only military victory, but also ensure a total surrender. But in Iraq the outcome is totally different," Gen Mehta said.

The general argued that "righteousness of war" was a key factor and said, "If you don't have local people you cannot win a war."

If there was any great weakness in the US military it was the "total lack of conditioning in dealing with situation after war", he said. "Unless you are able to win the hearts and minds of people you are not going to win the war."

Gen Mehta, an analyst on security issues for several publications and a rediff.com columnist, has taken part in every war and counterinsurgency operation between 1957 and 1991. He was also involved in Indian military operations in Sri Lanka and peacekeeping in Congo.