In his autobiography scheduled to be released on February 8, Rumsfeld writes that 15 days after 9/11, when Pentagon's focus was on Afghan war, Bush called him to his office and ordered a review plans for Iraq war.
"Two weeks after the worst terror attacks in our nation's history, those of us in the Department of Defense were full occupied," but Bush called for a "creative" option for invading Iraq, The Huffington Post reported on Thursday.
However, Rumsfeld says Iraq war has been worth the costs and offers no apology for the way he handled the conflict.
He says if former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime was not ousted, the Middle East would be "far more perilous than it is today."
Elsewhere in his memoir, Rumsfeld casts doubt over US' full military engagement in Afghanistan, saying he "did not see more US troops as the solution to Afghanistan's many challenges."
"Sending more troops to the village and valleys of Afghanistan would not resolve the country's long-term problems. In fact, they could exacerbate them by fostering resentment among a proud population and providing more targets for our enemies to attack," he adds.
Rumsfeld was an architect of Iraq war plan. He and other US officials cited Iraq's weapons of mass destruction as their reason for invading the country, but such weapons were never found.
In 2006, Rumsfeld was sacked after the US war in Iraq came to a deadlock after three and a half years.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, at least 4,440 US soldiers have been killed and more than 31,830 others injured.
The devastating war has also left more than 1,300,000 Iraqi civilians dead and some 4.7 million Iraqis displaced, according to reports.
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