The war in Iraq has triggered a major terrorist influx into that country, according to former US president Bill Clinton.

Clinton, in an interview on Sunday ahead of the release of his memoir My Life, said, "I think the Iraqis are better off with [deposed Iraq president] Saddam [Hussein] gone, if they can have a stable government."

He was responding to a query on whether he agrees with his successor George W Bush's stand that the world is safe from terrorism after the attack on Iraq.

"There have been more terrorists move into Iraq in the aftermath of the conflict. I still believe, as I always have, that the biggest terrorist threat by far is Al-Qaeda and the Al-Qaeda network," he added.

He told CBS television that the US made an error in not allowing United Nations weapons inspectors to complete the search for weapons of mass destruction before launching the attack.

The 42nd president of the US spoke about his public and private life -- soon to be revealed in his memoir --- and discussed his Arkansas childhood and family, his times as Arkansas governor and the triumphs and failures of his presidency.

Asserting that his economic plan was the greatest accomplishment of his presidency, he said, "I kept score, how many people's lives were better off. I think the fact that we were able to have 22 million jobs and record home ownership and lower interest rates."

He termed his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky "a terrible moral error".

The disclosure of the affair put him, he said, "in the doghouse" with his wife Hillary, now a senator, and also threatened to alienate his daughter, Chelsea. However, he said, the family was able to overcome its effect through counselling.

Hillary needed time to decide whether to stay married with him, he said.

"We'd take a day a week, and we did - a whole day a week every week for a year, maybe a little more - and did counselling," Clinton said. "We did it together. We did it individually. We did family work."

Clinton said he was proud that he fought the impeachment battle. "I didn't quit. I never thought of resigning and I stood up to it and beat it back," he said.

"The whole battle was a badge of honour. I don't see it as a stain, because it was illegitimate."