US: President Bush has claimed that his re-election is a ratification of his decision to invade Iraq and that therefore there is no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments before or after the war began.
"We had an accountability moment and that's called the 2004 elections," Mr Bush said in an interview with the Washington Post, one of several given to the US media is the run-up to his inauguration on Thursday.
"The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq and they looked at the two candidates and chose me."
The president's remarks come as new allegations surface of plans by the Bush administration to extend the conflict to Iran in the absence of any proof that Iraq's neighbour has no nuclear weapons programme.
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who broke the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, claims in this week's New Yorker that the US has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets.
A government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon is quoted as saying: "The civilians in the Pentagon want to go into Iran and destroy as much of the military infrastructure as possible."
The White House said yesterday Iran was a concern and a threat that needed to be taken seriously but Mr Dan Bartlett, an aide to Mr Bush, disputed some aspects of the New Yorker report.
"No president, at any juncture in history, has ever taken military options off the table," he told CNN, "but what President Bush has shown is that he believes we can emphasise the diplomatic initiatives that are under way right now."
The New Yorker reports that a secret US task force has been operating in eastern Iran in a hunt for underground nuclear-weapons installations, helped by Pakistan intelligence in return for US assurances that Pakistan will not have to turn over Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, for questioning about selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
In his Washington Post interview, Mr Bush set no timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and urged Americans to be patient.
"On a complicated matter such as removing a dictator from power and trying to help achieve democracy, sometimes the unexpected will happen, both good and bad," he said.
"The sooner the Iraqis are . . . better prepared, better equipped to fight, the sooner our troops can start coming home."
Mr Bush called a CIA report last week saying that the war in Iraq had created a training ground for terrorists "somewhat speculative", but acknowledged "there will be parts of the world that become pockets for terrorists to find safe haven and to train, and we have a duty to disrupt that".
Asked why the US had not succeeded in finding al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, Mr Bush replied: "Because he's hiding."
Mr Bush's claim that no top officials should be held accountable for mistakes concerning Iraq has been reflected in his recent cabinet shake-up.
The main architects of the war, including the Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, and his deputy, Mr Paul Wolfowitz, have remained in the administration while critics like the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, are being replaced.
Mr Bush admitted that US prestige had been affected in some parts of the world since his election in 2000 and said he would ask the incoming Secretary of State, Ms Condoleezza Rice, to launch a campaign that "explains our motives and explains our intentions".
"There's no question we've got to continue to do a better job of explaining what America is all about," he said, adding that most Muslims would eventually see America as a beacon of freedom and democracy.
The theme of spreading democracy around the world is expected to be central to the president's inaugural speech this week. Despite his upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq, a majority of Americans are sceptical about Mr Bush achieving his aims there, and half said relations with other countries were worse than four years ago.
An Associated Press poll yesterday showed that 53 per cent believe it is unlikely that Iraq will have a stable government.
Nevertheless, six in 10 said they were hopeful about the second term and almost two-thirds of those polled described Bush as likeable, strong and intelligent. A majority also said he was dependable and honest.
A recent Pew poll showed however that Mr Bush will begin his second term with the lowest approval rating - 50 per cent - of any president since 1957. Both Presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon had 59 per cent approval before their second inauguration.