Former US President George W. Bush has mistakenly described the invasion of Iraq as “brutal” and “unjustified” before correcting himself to mean the war in Ukraine.

Bush made the comments in a speech at an event in Dallas on Wednesday, while criticizing Russia’s political system.

“The result is a lack of checks and balances in Russia, and one man’s decision to launch a totally unwarranted and brutal invasion of Iraq,” Bush said, correcting himself and shaking his head. “I mean, from the Ukraine.”

Jokingly, he blamed the mistake on his age, while the audience burst out laughing.

In 2003, when Bush was president, the United States led the invasion of Iraq for weapons of mass destruction that were never found. The protracted conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many more.

Bush’s remarks quickly went viral on social media, garnering more than three million views on Twitter alone after a Dallas News reporter tweeted the clip.

The former US president also compared Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky to Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill, while condemning Vladimir Putin for launching the February invasion of Ukraine.

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