This Is How George W. Bush Responded When He Was Asked If He 'Regrets' Going Into Iraq

Going into Iraq was "the right decision" — though the rise of the Islamic State a decade later is regrettable.

So said former President George W. Bush.

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, Bush stood by his decision to put American troops on the ground in Mesopotamia.

"Do you have any regrets [about sending troops into Iraq]?" host Bob Schieffer asked. "I mean, do you ever feel that maybe it was the wrong decision?"

"No I think it was the right decision," Bush fired back.

But he said he did regret the rise of the Islamic State in a broad part of Iraq.

“My regret is that a violent group of people has risen up again. This is al Qaeda plus. I put in the book that they need to be defeated. And I hope we do [defeat them]."

Bush also said he was somewhat surprised that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military decided to fight the 2003 American invasion — and he said he didn't send troops into Iraq just to finish his father's work, as some have alleged.

Watch the interview below:

(H/T: Mediaite)

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