Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

Washington Post ^ | 28/12/06 | Bob Woodward

[Thywillnotmine]

Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified.

In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

...Ford took issue with the notion of the United States entering a conflict in service of the idea of spreading democracy.

"Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush's assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interest." He added: "And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

The Ford interview -- and a subsequent lengthy conversation in 2005 -- took place for a future book project, though he said his comments could be published at any time after his death.

[newcthem]

.............This guy is so full of himself.

[Long Island Pete]

though he said his comments could be published at any time after his death.

I think that meant wait until the body was cold.

[mdefranc]

Do you mean Ford or Woodward?

[yoe]

Woodward teeters vicariously between fact and how he perceives and his perception is flawed by bias….that and taking the spoken word out of context.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Woodward is making this up. Is there video or audio tape?

[Admin Moderator]

The title you created had to be changed to the original published title. Please do not alter titles.

[fatnotlazy]

This and similar pieces have been all over the airwaves. CNN, MSNBC and the mainstream media have been carrying on like this is the Second Coming or something. What real purpose does it serve to bring this up now...particularly since the man hasn't even been planted yet...or anytime in the future? Just because he wanted this made public after his death (presumably) doesn't mean it had to come out now, or come out at all.

[Brilliant]

Interesting that since Ford is now dead, the media suddenly thinks he was a genius, whereas they portrayed him as a dolt while he was alive.

[Mo1]

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

Hey Bob .. the reason (aka justifying ) for going to war is not the same as being against the war

[ClearCase_guy]

I was under the impression that a close associate of Ford's had come forward and basically said "Gerry Ford supported Bush's action".

Woodward makes stuff up.

[D-Chivas]

Bob Woodward is a liar.

[DB]

Ford disagreed with Bob Woodward about this story.

[Paige]

SO!!!!!!!!!!?????????? WHO CARES????????

[SolidWood]

Ford supported the war, but thought the Administration was over-emphasizing the WMD issue on the PR front.

Woodward and the communist media spin and twist this to make Ford look like Cindy Sheehan (God forgive me).

[USS Alaska]

I wonder which is more accurate, a nyslimes report from an unnamed source or a woodward quote from a dead source?

Both the same.

[Mo1]

I was under the impression that a close associate of Ford's had come forward and basically said "Gerry Ford supported Bush's action".

He did .. just not using the WMD as the reason

[Don Corleone]

If this is true...and that's a big if...at least Ford had the class to keep his public mouth shut unlike other ex- presidents like Kartah and Bent Willie who have no class at all and consider Treason their highest calling.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Couldn't President Ford have embargoed his comments for a period after his death? The liberal media blared out the general drift of them the SAME DAY as they announced his passing. This way they are unfortunately given some cosmic-seeming weight.

Regarding Ford's comments on the justifications for invading Iraq, I don't agree. The national interest need was adequately noted by President Bush, and also in the Congressional authorization. The seemingly exclusive emphasis on existing deployable WMDs was formulated for no other reason than involving the UN. President Ford should have used his post-mortem "bully pulpit" to eviscerate the UN.

[roses of sharon]

LOL, yes, as I have said since 9/11, liberals only love the US, and Republicans, when we are dying.