WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that he "strongly disagrees" that Iraq war was a mistake an it is wrong to think the Iraq war has worsened terrorism.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai listens as US President George W. Bush speaks during a joint press conference in the White House, Sept. 26, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    According to a national intelligence assessment report by the Bush administration and leaked to the media, the threat of terrorism has become worse since the Sept. 11 terror attacks due to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    "Some people have guessed what's in the report and concluded that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree," Bush said at a press conference with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

    "I think it's a mistake for people to believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe," he said.

    Bush said at the press conference that he decided to declassify part of the report called National Intelligence Estimate.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that if the current violence continues in Iraq, a full-scale civil war might break out in the country.

    The United States launched the Iraq war in 2003 under the excuses that the Saddam Hussein regime had weapons of mass destruction and had ties with the al-Qaida terrorist network. However, such allegations have been proved nonexistent and the Bush administration has since argued that the downfall of the Saddam Hussein regime made the United States and world safer. Enditem