George W Bush Accidentally Criticises 'Unjustified' Invasion Of Iraq Instead Of Ukraine
George Bush, the US President who ordered the invasion of Iraq during his time in the White House (Photo: Twitter)
George W Bush made quite the blunder on Wednesday night during a speech when he confused the Iraq invasion with Ukraine.
The former US president, who was in the White House between 2001 and 2009, ordered the invasion of Iraq almost 20 years ago.
His administration justified the invasion by claiming there were weapons of mass destructions in the country, but inspectors from the UN later confirmed there was no evidence weapons of the kind existed prior to the invasion.
Bush has been heavily criticised for it ever since.
It was therefore a rather unfortunate slip of the tongue when Bush, discussing Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, accidentally made a reference to Iraq.
“Russian elections are rigged,” Bush said in a clip which rapidly went viral. “Political opponents are imprisoned or otherwise eliminated from participating in the electoral process.
“The result is an absent of checks and balances in Russia, and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq.
“I mean, of Ukraine.”
According to some viewers, he then muttered under his breath: “Iraq, too.”
Amid laughter from the audience, Bush resumed and made a reference to his age to explain his error: “Anyway – 75...”
Former President George W. Bush: “The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/UMwNMwMnmX
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 19, 2022
And it wasn’t long before the Twitter reactions started to roll in.
Hold on. He really, really does say “Iraq, too” under his breath afterwards, doesn’t he https://t.co/SLPzEnkE5s
— Owen Jones 🌹 (@OwenJones84) May 19, 2022
That's not a Freudian slip, it's a Freudian tumble down the stairs. https://t.co/7gCxDcqWLp
— Charles Gaba 🇺🇦 (@charles_gaba) May 19, 2022
George Bush just unleashed the biggest Freudian slip of his life
— Jared Schumaier 🇺🇸 (@strummaster42) May 19, 2022
This is not just a political gaffe. This is a George Bush political gaffe. https://t.co/hFumgeKQ9D
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) May 19, 2022
has any body edited the wiki for "freudian slip" with just this clip as the sole entry yethttps://t.co/JegJwMvCKq
— darth™ (@darth) May 19, 2022
George W. Bush with the Curb music added pic.twitter.com/pGbTJuYYyn
— God (@thegoodgodabove) May 19, 2022
no film/show, satirical or otherwise, could ever depict the magnitude of the west’s ridiculousness and idiocy in the last five years https://t.co/VBNOhLfmFg
— Soraya Bouazzaoui (@halalltakeaway) May 19, 2022
Bush doing a gaffe like this 14 years after being president is basically the equivalent of Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl at 43
— Alex Shephard (@alex_shephard) May 19, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.
