Former US President George W. Bush mistakenly called the invasion of Iraq “brutal” and “unjustified” before correcting himself by saying he was referring to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. He made the statement in a speech at a party in Dallas on Wednesday, criticizing the Russian political system.

In his speech, he pointed out that “the result is the absence of a system of checks and balances in Russia and the decision of one person to launch a brutal operation, completely unjustified in Iraq”, before correcting his words and shaking his head, saying: “I mean Ukraine” . He jokingly blamed his age for the mistake, and the audience burst into laughter. And in 2003, when Bush was president, the United States invaded Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that were never found. The protracted conflict has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and many more displaced people.

Bush’s comments quickly spread on social media, garnering over three million views on Twitter alone after a Dallas News reporter posted the clip. The former US president also compared Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to British wartime leader Winston Churchill, denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching an operation in Ukraine in February.