Speaking during a joint White House news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bush said, however, that he believes the former Iraqi president was given a "fair trial" and received justice, while the thousands of people Hussein killed during his rule were not given justice.
"I wish, obviously, that the proceedings had gone in a more dignified way," Bush said, "but, nevertheless, he was given justice that thousands of people he killed were not."
Bush said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has assured him that Iraqi authorities will fully investigate what happened during Hussein's execution.
Iraqi officials have said they are probing who made and released the unauthorized mobile-phone video of the hanging, and who was involved in taunting Hussein in the minutes before he died.
(Reuters, AFP)
Saddam Hussein: Looking Back
A DICTATOR'S LIFE: A photo gallery of images from the life of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
MORE: A timeline of the life of Saddam Hussein.
