American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has said he warned President Bush before the Iraq war that the US would sustain casualties but that Mr Bush responded there would not be any US casualties.
White House and campaign advisers denied Mr Bush made the comment, with adviser Karen Hughes saying, "I don't believe that happened. He must have misunderstood or misheard it."
Mr Robertson's comments came to light as Mr Bush portrayed himself as an aggressive leader who understands the costs of the war on terrorism, while trying to depict his election opponent Mr John Kerry as out of touch about the risks.
Mr Robertson, in an interview with CNN that was aired on Tuesday night, said God had told him the war would be messy and a disaster. When he met with Mr Bush in Nashville, Tennessee, before the war Mr Bush did not listen to his advice, Robertson said, and believed Saddam Hussein was an evil tyrant who needed to be removed.
"He was just sitting there, like, 'I'm on top of the world,' and I warned him about this war," Mr Robertson said.
"I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr. President, you better prepare the American people for casualties.' [Mr Bush replied] 'Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties.'
"'Well,' I said, 'it's the way it's going to be.' And so, it was messy. The Lord told me it was going to be, A, a disaster and, B, messy," Mr Robertson said.