Washington ? President Bush said the public’s decision to re-elect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

“We had an accountability moment, and that’s called the 2004 elections,” Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post. “The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me.”

With the Iraq elections two weeks away and no signs of the deadly insurgency abating, Bush set no timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops and twice declined to endorse Secretary of State Colin Powell’s recent statement that the number of Americans serving in Iraq could be reduced by year’s end. Bush said he would not ask Congress to expand the size of the National Guard or regular Army, as some lawmakers and military experts propose.

In a wide-ranging, 35-minute interview Friday aboard Air Force One, Bush also laid out new details of his second-term plans. For the first time, Bush said he would not press senators to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, the top priority for many social conservative groups. And he said he had no plans to cut benefits for the roughly 40 percent of Social Security recipients who collect monthly disability and survivors payments as he prepares his plan for partial privatization.

With his inauguration just days away, Bush defended the administration’s decision to force the District of Columbia to spend $12 million of its homeland security budget to provide tighter security for this week’s festivities. He also warned that the ceremony could make the city “an attractive target for terrorists.”

But it will be Iraq that dominates White House deliberations off stage. Over the next few weeks, Bush will be monitoring closely Iraq’s plan to hold elections for a 275-member national assembly. He must deliver his State of the Union address with a message of resolve on Iraq, and he will need to seek congressional approval for roughly $100 billion in emergency spending, much of it for the war.

The president urged Americans to show patience in coming months as Iraq moves slowly toward creating a democratic nation where a brutal dictatorship once stood. But the relentless optimism that dominated Bush’s speeches before the U.S. election was sometimes replaced by pragmatism and caution.

“On a complicated matter such as removing a dictator from power and trying to help achieve democracy, sometimes the unexpected will happen, both good and bad,” he said. “I am realistic about how quickly a society that has been dominated by a tyrant can become a democracy. … I am more patient than some.”

A new report released last week by U.S. intelligence agencies warned that the war in Iraq has created a new training ground for terrorists. Bush called the report “somewhat speculative” but acknowledged “this could happen. And I agree. If we are not diligent and firm, there will be parts of the world that become pockets for terrorists to find safe haven and to train. And we have a duty to disrupt that.”

As for perhaps the most notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden, the administration has so far been unsuccessful in its attempt to locate the 9-11 mastermind. Asked why, Bush said simply, “Because he’s hiding.”