Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he advised President Bush to send

Colin Powell

more troops into Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion was launched.

Powell, in an interview with Britain's ITV1, says he gave the advice to now - retired General Tommy Franks, who planned the Iraq invasion, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Mr. Bush.

Powell says Mr. Bush's military advisors believed the troop level was adequate. Powell says he still disagrees with this and would have preferred to initially send more troops.

Rumsfeld has been under mounting criticism over the war in Iraq. Six retired U.S. generals recently called for Rumsfeld's resignation, faulting his leadership and accusing him of making a series of major errors in the Iraq war.