"It is a gross misconstruction of his remarks to suggest that he was blaming the United States for the attacks," the office said in a statement.
This did little to assuage the anger of the right-wing Canadian Alliance party, which is generally more favorably inclined toward the United States.
"These comments should be apologized for. They're completely out of context and this is just the very worst timing," deputy Alliance leader Grant Hill told Reuters.
"There is no excuse for terrorism. There is no excuse for innocent lives being lost and anyone who says there is an excuse for that is wrong...it's not clever at all, it's an insult to our neighbors."
The local CBC radio station in Ottawa was flooded with calls on Thursday morning from listeners backing Chretien.
Bush met Chretien last week amid a concerted US effort to persuade its allies of the need to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Chretien stressed instead the need to work through the United Nations to build a coalition.
The local CBC radio station in Ottawa was flooded with calls on Thursday morning from listeners backing Chretien.
Bush met Chretien last week amid a concerted US effort to persuade its allies of the need to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Chretien stressed instead the need to work through the United Nations to build a coalition.
Chretien's reflective comments were highly unusual for a man known as a down-to-earth politician with little time for the deeper philosophy of governance.
The one skill the West and the United States seemed to lack was that of knowing when to exercise some restraint, he said.
"It's always the problem when you read history -- (no one) knows when to stop. There's a moment, you know, when you have to stop," he told the CBC, saying he had made this point to a group of Wall Street executives unhappy that Canada had full diplomatic relations with arch US foe Cuba.
The one skill the West and the United States seemed to lack was that of knowing when to exercise some restraint, he said.
"It's always the problem when you read history -- (no one) knows when to stop. There's a moment, you know, when you have to stop," he told the CBC, saying he had made this point to a group of Wall Street executives unhappy that Canada had full diplomatic relations with arch US foe Cuba.