thedrifter
12-29-06, 07:17 AM
Posted on Fri, Dec. 29, 2006
UNRELEASED INTERVIEWS
Ford doubted reason for war
Using weapons as basis for Iraq invasion a `big mistake,' he told paper
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Former President Gerald Ford questioned the Bush administration's rationale for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in interviews he granted on condition they not be released until after his death.
Ford "very strongly" disagreed with President Bush's justifications for the war and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, more vigorously, the Washington Post reported.
"I don't think I would have gone to war," Ford told Bob Woodward a little more than a year after the invasion.
In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was also critical of Vice President Cheney, who served as Ford's White House chief of staff, and of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who also served as Ford's chief of staff and then as his secretary of defense.
"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq," Ford said. "They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction."
In an interview given with the same ground rules to the New York Daily News last May, Ford repeated his criticism.
"Saddam Hussein was an evil person and there was justification to get rid of him," he said. "But we shouldn't have put the basis on weapons of destruction. That was a bad mistake. Where does (Bush) get his advice?"
Ford also did not like the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program.
"It may be a necessary evil," Ford said. "I don't think it's a terrible transgression, but I would never do it. I was dumbfounded when I heard they were doing it." Developments
Saddam may hang by Sun.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi officials suggested Thursday that Saddam Hussein would be hanged within days, before an Islamic festival begins Sunday, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, told the New York Times there would be no advance notice because of fears that an announcement could set off violence.
When asked who would be invited to attend, Rubaie said: "No television. No press. Nothing." He said the execution would be videotaped, but that it was unlikely the tape would be released. -- Observer News Services
• Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and four others were arrested Thursday for blocking a road near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, authorities said.
• The U.S. military identified two Camp Lejeune Marines killed in combat this week in Iraq: Cpl. Joshua Schmitz and Lance Cpl. William Koprince Jr.
The military also identified a Fort Bragg soldier who died Saturday in Iraq of a non-combat-related injury: Spc. Michael Crutchfield.
• The U.S. military announced five more American troop deaths, increasing the total for the month to 100.
• At least 30 Iraqis died Thursday in bombings and shootings. Police also said 42 bodies of tortured men were found in Baghdad.
-- Associated Press
Ellie
UNRELEASED INTERVIEWS
Ford doubted reason for war
Using weapons as basis for Iraq invasion a `big mistake,' he told paper
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Former President Gerald Ford questioned the Bush administration's rationale for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in interviews he granted on condition they not be released until after his death.
Ford "very strongly" disagreed with President Bush's justifications for the war and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, more vigorously, the Washington Post reported.
"I don't think I would have gone to war," Ford told Bob Woodward a little more than a year after the invasion.
In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was also critical of Vice President Cheney, who served as Ford's White House chief of staff, and of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who also served as Ford's chief of staff and then as his secretary of defense.
"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq," Ford said. "They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction."
In an interview given with the same ground rules to the New York Daily News last May, Ford repeated his criticism.
"Saddam Hussein was an evil person and there was justification to get rid of him," he said. "But we shouldn't have put the basis on weapons of destruction. That was a bad mistake. Where does (Bush) get his advice?"
Ford also did not like the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program.
"It may be a necessary evil," Ford said. "I don't think it's a terrible transgression, but I would never do it. I was dumbfounded when I heard they were doing it." Developments
Saddam may hang by Sun.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi officials suggested Thursday that Saddam Hussein would be hanged within days, before an Islamic festival begins Sunday, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, told the New York Times there would be no advance notice because of fears that an announcement could set off violence.
When asked who would be invited to attend, Rubaie said: "No television. No press. Nothing." He said the execution would be videotaped, but that it was unlikely the tape would be released. -- Observer News Services
• Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and four others were arrested Thursday for blocking a road near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, authorities said.
• The U.S. military identified two Camp Lejeune Marines killed in combat this week in Iraq: Cpl. Joshua Schmitz and Lance Cpl. William Koprince Jr.
The military also identified a Fort Bragg soldier who died Saturday in Iraq of a non-combat-related injury: Spc. Michael Crutchfield.
• The U.S. military announced five more American troop deaths, increasing the total for the month to 100.
• At least 30 Iraqis died Thursday in bombings and shootings. Police also said 42 bodies of tortured men were found in Baghdad.
-- Associated Press
Ellie