He acknowledged that the war had sharply divided the US and that intelligence about Saddam's alleged weapons programs had turned out to be false.
But he sharply rebuked "irresponsible" charges that he had deliberately misled the country.
"These charges are pure politics. They hurt the morale of our troops," he declared, saying that even countries which opposed the war agreed that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction.
But US media have quoted French and German intelligence officials in recent weeks as saying that they repeatedly warned Washington that crucial parts of its case for war were flawed or outright false.
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