President Bush hosted British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Washington Thursday for talks on Iraq. At a joint press conference the President was asked whether he could identify any mistakes or missteps in his Iraq policy.

• President Bush: “Saying 'bring it on,' kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner — you know, 'wanted dead or alive,' that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted, and so I learned from that. And I think the biggest mistake that’s happened so far, at least from our country’s involvement in Iraq is Abu Ghraib. We’ve been paying for that for a long period of time.”

The President did not mention the US bombing of hospitals and medicine-depots in Fallujah or the massacre of Iraqi civilians at Haditha. It was at least the third time President Bush had been asked about mistakes at a news conference. The first time he was asked the President famously said he couldn’t remember any.