Washington  - With only eight days left in office, US President George W Bush Monday delivered an emotional defence of the country's moral standing in the world, lashing out at Europe for its constant criticism and at countries that have refused to take detainees from Guantanamo military prison.

Bush, who is ending eight years in office with one of the lowest popularity ratings ever, stood before the White House press corps for what was billed as his last press conference, bridling under pointed questions about his shortcomings.

He made rare admissions about several mistakes, including the "Mission Accomplished" declaration on board an aircraft carrier shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and said he regretted that his administration was wrong about Baghdad having weapons of mass destruction and was disappointed by the abuses by soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Bush bristled at the suggestion made by president-elect Barack Obama and his supporters that the United States' moral standing in the world needs to be restored from damages caused by harsh interrogation tactics at Guantanamo prison and by the unilateral invasion of Iraq.

"I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been damaged," Bush said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom; that America is a country that provides such great hope."

The president lashed out at "certain quarters in Europe" where "you can be popular by blaming every Middle Eastern problem on Israel" and at "parts of Europe" that objected to going to war without a mandate.

Bush said he understood the controversies created by Gitmo, the nickname for the military prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where foreign terrorist suspects have been held, sometimes for years, without charges being brought.

"But when it came time for those countries that were criticizing America to take some of those - some of those detainees, they weren't willing to help out," he said.

Bush angrily recalled the atmosphere of fear after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying he took steps that he has been criticized for in order to protect the security of the country.

Bush also defended his personal early response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana, saying he chose to fly by and not to land Air Force One on the day the flooding started because it would have detracted police power from the emergency at hand.

Asked about the slow response to rescuing tens of thousands of people as flood waters rose, Bush snapped: "Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was
30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed."

He admitted that "absolutely" things could have been done better. "But when I hear people say the federal response was slow, then what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 that got pulled off the roofs?"

Much of the criticism of the Katrina aftermath has been focussed on the tens of thousands of people who for days waited without food, water or sanitation in a stadium. (dpa)