Summing up his legacy as president, he told a news conference on Monday he did the right thing in sending an additional 30,000 American troops there to lower the level of daily violence and to stabilise life in the war-torn country.
Mr Bush told reporters that, 'The question is, in the long run, will this democracy survive, and that's going to be a question for future presidents.'
The president has come under harsh criticism for the Iraq war, now in its sixth year. There have been more than 4,000 US deaths and thousands of Iraqi deaths since the invasion and toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
He said that 'not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment'.
The accusation that Saddam had and was pursuing weapons of mass destruction was Mr Bush's main initial justification for going to war. He admitted another miscalculation: Eager to report quick progress after US troops ousted Saddam, Mr Bush five years ago made a 'Mission Accomplished' speech, which turned out to be wildly optimistic.
'In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed,' he declared triumphantly May 1, 2003, from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln off the Pacific coast.
'Clearly putting 'Mission Accomplished' on an aircraft carrier was a mistake,' he said in his news conference. -- AP