George W Bush admits to making errors in Iraq war: Book

Former US President George W Bush has admitted that he committed many errors involving the Iraq war and said he "felt like the captain of a sinking ship" towards the end of his presidency when dealing with recession, according to his new book.

In his book, Decision Points, to be released next week, Bush writes of the errors involving the Iraq campaign and the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction (WMD), despite a number of US intelligence reports pointing to their existence there.

He admits feeling a 'sickening feeling' when he learned there were no mass destruction weapons in Iraq and said "cutting troop levels too quickly was the most important failure of execution in the war," according to excerpts from his book, released by The New York Times.

The former President has also disclosed he considered replacing his Vice President Dick Cheney who offered to step down in 2003 so that he could pick someone else as his 2004 campaign running mate. Bush considered the offer, writing that while Cheney "helped with important parts of our base, he had become a lightning rod for criticism from the media and the left".

He said accepting the resignation offer would help "demonstrate that I was in charge", but he decided to stick with Cheney. "He was seen as dark and heartless -- the Darth Vader of the administration," Bush was quoted as saying in his book.

He adds: "The more I thought about it, the more strongly I felt Dick should stay. I hadn't picked him to be a political asset; I had chosen him to help me do the job. That was exactly what he'd done. I asked Dick to stay..." In his book, Bush has also disclosed that he "felt like the captain of a sinking ship" towards the end of his presidency, when dealing with the recession.