Bush has no regrets over Iraq

2005-01-13 08:45

Washington - United States President George W Bush said on Wednesday that the invasion of Iraq was "absolutely" worth it, even though no weapons of mass destruction have been found.

"Well, like you, I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction," he said, according to excerpts released from an ABC television interview.

"Or like many, many here in the United States, many around the world, the United Nations thought he had weapons of mass destruction, and so, therefore, one, we need to find out what went wrong in the intelligence gathering. Saddam was dangerous. And .. the world was safer without him in power."

Bush made his comments on the ABC News 20/20 programme, as the White House confirmed on Wednesday that the United States had quietly halted its search for WMD in Iraq - one of its key reasons for invading the country.

Asked whether it was worth it to invade Iraq even without WMD found, Bush replied, "Oh, absolutely."

ABC will broadcast its entire interview with the US president on Friday.

- AFP