In this image from APTN video, a man throws a shoe at President George W. Bush during a news... 
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Clearly, one of the most important parts of my job because of 9/11 was to defend the security of the American people. There have been no attacks since I have been president, since 9/11. One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take ...
Raddatz: But not until after the U.S. invaded.
Bush: Yeah, that's right. So what? The point is that al Qaeda said they're going to take a stand. Well, first of all in the post-9/11 environment Saddam Hussein posed a threat. And then upon removal, al Qaeda decides to take a stand. And they're becoming defeated and I think history will say, one, the world was better off without Saddam, two, along with the Iraqi troops we have denied al Qaeda a safe haven because a young democracy is beginning to grow, which will be an important sign for people in the Middle East.
Raddatz: Just let me go back because you brought this up. You said Saddam Hussein posed a threat in the post-9/11 world. They didn't find weapons of mass destruction.
Bush: That's true. Everybody thought they had them.
Raddatz: So what threat?
Bush: Saddam Hussein was the sworn enemy of the United States. He had been enriched by oil revenues. He was a sponsor of terror. I have never claimed like some said that he -- you know, oh, that he was directly involved with the attacks on 9/11, but he did support terrorists. And, uh, Saddam Hussein had the capability making weapons of mass destruction.
I did not have the luxury of knowing he did not have them, neither did the rest of the world until after we had come and removed him. Raddatz: So would you have gone in anyway?
Bush: … Excuse me for a minute. And finally we gave Hussein a peaceful way out. It was his choice. And when he refused to allow for inspections, when he refused to disclose or disarm, then a large coalition of troops took him out. And ...
Now the question is are we going to stay and help this young democracy thrive. What happened was after Saddam leaves, al Qaeda says this is the second front in the war on terror. And I take the words of a terrorist leader seriously and ... so we have worked with the Iraqis to try to help their democracy grow and thrive [and] at the same time eliminate al Qaeda safe havens.
Raddatz: Did you imagine it would -- the war would go the way it went? And you'd be sitting here today with signing a SOFA, a ...
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