George W. Bush Accidentally Condemned The 'Invasion Of Iraq' Instead Of Ukraine (VIDEO)
He said it was "unjustified and brutal."
George W. Bush giving the speech in Dallas. Right: Bush after he made the mistake.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush may have been more honest than he intended during a recent speech in Dallas, during which he tried to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and accidentally blasted his own invasion of Iraq.
The former president often made headlines for his verbal gaffes when he was in the White House, and that old habit came back to haunt him during a speech this week.
While Bush was trying to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, he instead condemned "the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq."
In case you don't remember, that one man was Bush himself.
You could see the moment of instant regret pass over his face as he said it. Then, he chuckled and corrected himself. "I mean of Ukraine."
Under his breath, he added "Iraq too," seemingly admitting that there was something off about his own move to attack the country in 2003.
The blunder caused the audience to laugh, after which Bush said "75," blaming his old age for the mix-up.
A clip of the moment was uploaded to Twitter by Michael Williams, a journalist for the Dallas News. His tweet already amassed 25.3 million views and plenty of reactions from people.
Bush made the slip-up while addressing the audience about Russian politics.
"Russian elections are rigged, political opponents are imprisoned or otherwise eliminated from participating in the electoral process," said Bush, before accidentally condemning his invasion instead of Putin's.
Bush launched the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, claiming at the time that it was necessary because the country had obtained weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein's government but never found proof of those WMDs, and years later, Bush blamed the error on "flawed" intelligence.
The invasion is said to have caused more than 200,000 violent civilian deaths while destabilizing the country, leaving it open to the rise of the Islamic State.
Since Bush's accidental admission, many people on Twitter have jumped in to share their own opinions about it.
Andrew Stroehlein, the European Media Director for the Human Rights Watch, retweeted Bush's gaffe and called it the "Freudian slip of the century."
The Plebs, a famous duo on YouTube, also retweeted the clip and said: "Never said this before about George Bush but I agree."
The Gravel Institute, a popular YouTube history channel, also chimed in and retweeted the clip with the caption saying: "For the first time ever, George Bush is right: George Bush did in fact, launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq."
Putin used some of the same talking points as Bush when he launched the invasion of Ukraine, saying that the country might have dangerous weapons of mass destruction that pose a threat to Russia's people.