Slip of the tongue?

Soundbite at the top of the Lehrer show today quotes W. warning Iraqi line officers from obeying commands to use biological or chemical weapons again us (just as last time they were warned and they apparently refrained from doing so — whether we poisoned our own troops with experimental prophylaxis is another question). Bush warns that after the overthrowregime change, they will be hunted down, “tried, and persecuted.”
Did he really mean to say persecuted?