'Intelligence Failure' On Iraq, Bush's Biggest 'Regret'

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George W. Bush on Monday said that his "biggest regret" in his eight-year administration was the "intelligence failure" on Iraq.

He said flawed intelligence over the late Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction was the "biggest regret of all the presidency."

Bush, who is less than two months away from retiring his old post as president of the strongest Democracy in the world, said he believes he "was unprepared for war," but clarified his remark by saying he had not anticipated war when he was elected as president.

According to Bush, he "wished the intelligence had been different," referring to the intelligence failure in Iraq.

He said the debate on whether then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was keeping weapons of mass destruction began even before he arrived in the White House and that leaders around the world "were looking at the same intelligence."

Bush will formally leave the White House on Jan. 20 with the lowest approval rate in history because of the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with the lingering financial crisis.

Over 4,200 American soldiers have been killed since the war in Iraq began in March 2003. Bush invaded Iraq based on faulty intelligence that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, but the invading forces did not recover any and have not found any such weapons in all the years that they have occupied Iraq since.