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A detail of a declassified handwritten letter sent by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to former U.S President George W. Bush, is seen as part of the Iraq Inquiry Report presented by Sir John Chilcot at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The head of Britain\'s Iraq War inquiry has released a damning verdict on a conflict he says was mounted on flawed intelligence, executed with "wholly inadequate" planning. (Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via AP)

Bush cycles with vets as review blasting Iraq War released

DALLAS – Former U.S. President George W. Bush says he still believes the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, despite what he acknowledges were “intelligence failures and other mistakes” leading up to the Iraq War.

A British inquiry released Wednesday blasts the faulty intelligence and planning leading up to the Iraq War. The report includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s letters to Bush assuring his support before the March 2003 invasion.

Spokesman Freddy Ford said Bush had “no stronger ally” than the United Kingdom under Blair, and that he remained grateful for soldiers’ sacrifices in Iraq and elsewhere.

Bush is spending his 70th birthday Wednesday bicycling with wounded veterans at his Texas ranch.

The war killed nearly 4,500 American personnel, 179 British troops and more than 100,000 Iraqis.

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