Bush 'right' to invade Iraq

2003-07-09 13:10

Pretoria - US President George W Bush said on Wednesday he was "absolutely confident" he made the right decision to invade Iraq, despite White House admissions he overstated its efforts to obtain uranium.

But Bush sidestepped a reporter's question about the White House's formal confirmation that he had overstated Saddam Hussein's alleged attempts to acquire uranium from Africa for his nuclear programme.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the world peace and there is no doubt in my mind the United States along with our allies and friends did the right thing in removing him from power," Bush said.

"I am absolutely confident in the decision I made," he said at a joint press appearance in Pretoria with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

In his State of the Union address in January, Bush said "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa".

The White House said the statement should not have been included in the address because it rested on flawed intelligence.

The charge stemmed from forged documents alleging that Iraq sought uranium "yellowcake" from Niger, and from separate information that Saddam sought the radioactive material from other African nations, said White House national security spokesperson Michael Anton on Tuesday.

- AFX