Washington  - With only eight days left in office, US President George W Bush Monday wished his successor Barack Obama good luck in the White House and warned that his biggest task will be protecting the homeland.

"The most urgent threat that he'll have to deal with and other presidents after him will have to deal with is an attack on our homeland," Bush said. "I wish I could report that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America."

In the 45-minute session with White House reporters, Bush, 62, also delivered an emotional defence of the country's moral standing in the world, lashed out at Europe for its constant criticism and admitted to some of his mistakes.

Looking ahead to the inauguration, Bush said he felt honoured to witness the "historic moment in racial relations" with the swearing in of the United States' first black president.

"I consider myself fortunate to have a front row seat at what is going to be an historic moment for America," Bush said of Obama, 47, who will be sworn in on January 20.

Bush reflected on how the weight of the office will hit his successor.

"He'll get sworn in and he'll have the lunch and all the - you know, all the deal up there on Capitol Hill, and then he'll come back and go through the inauguration. And then he'll walk in the Oval Office and there'll be a moment when the responsibilities of the president land squarely on his shoulders," Bush said.

He said he wished Obama "all the best" because the "stakes are high ... He's going to have his hands full with the economy ... It's tough for a lot of working people out there. The people are concerned about their economic future."

The president said he expects to feel "different" when he wakes up the day after he leaves office at his home in Crawford, Texas. He said the first thing he would do is make coffee for his wife, Laura.

Still he doesn't expect to waste time, and will likely begin writing his memoirs.

"I can't envision myself in a big straw hat and a Hawaiian shirt sitting on a beach somewhere, particularly since i quit drinking," he joked.

Bush, who is ending eight years in office with one of the lowest popularity ratings ever, made rare admissions about several mistakes, including the "Mission Accomplished" declaration on board an aircraft carrier shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Bush 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 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."

He urged critics to go to Africa, India or China, where they will find America is well respected - even if he is not personally well liked.

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 in Iraq without a mandate.

Bush acknowledged the controversies created by Gitmo, the nickname for the US military prison at 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 ... 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)