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Ford: Bush made 'big mistake' on Iraq justifications
•NEW: Ford to Bob Woodward: Bush made "big mistake" in justifying Iraq
•NEW: Ford made the comments in a four-hour interview in 2004
•NEW: Interview appears in Washington Post
•NEW: Ford disagreed with Bush's approach to spreading democracy
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In an interview never before published, former President Gerald Ford said President Bush and his chief advisers "made a big mistake" with their justifications for the Iraq war.
Ford made the comments in a four-hour interview in 2004 with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
Woodward is famous for being part of the writing duo who exposed the Watergate scandal, which led to Ford becoming president.
The interview was conducted at Ford's home in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
"I don't think, if I had been president -- on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly -- I don't think I would have ordered the Iraqi war," Ford said in a part of the interview broadcast on CNN's "Larry King Live" Wednesday.
"I would have maximized our efforts through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer," the former president said.
Ford died Tuesday, at age 93, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. An official cause of death has not been released. (Read the full story)
His body will lie in state in California and Washington before interment January 3. (Watch announcement of Ford's funeral)
Ford replaced former President Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 during a scandal surrounding the burglary of Democratic Party offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington. (Watch how Ford's legacy will remain strong)
Ford was regarded as a man with a quiet style who was not quick to criticize, Woodward and others who worked with him said on "Larry King." (Watch President Bush praise Ford)
Ford requested that Woodward not publish the interview until Woodward had written a planned book about Ford or until the former president died.
"He made it very clear that he did not agree with the reasons President Bush laid out for the war, namely the belief that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or that there was some obligation that the United States or the president had to expand democracy."
The Washington Post published other excerpts from the interview.
"(Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld and (Vice President Dick) 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. 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."
Cheney served as President Ford's chief of staff and Rumsfeld was the secretary of defense in the Ford administration.
President Bush has long defended the war in Iraq as part of a larger plan to spread democracy throughout the Middle East.
The 38th president said he disapproves of that strategy.
"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," he said.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/27/ford.iraq/index.html
