From the interview (starts 15:28 into the clip) with Irish tv mentioned below: Bush defends the Iraq war,

But I do think that the world is ... becoming a safer place, I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world. Listen, people join terrorist organization cause theres no hope, theres no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom. And so the idea is to promote freedom and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe the world is becoming a better place, absolutely.

I probably would have agreed if you told me this before the Iraq war began -- but the idea of a free Iraq as a bulwark against terrorism looks more and more like a pipe dream every single day.