Gerald Ford on Iraq

“Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration.

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."

In a conversation that veered between the current realities of a war in the Middle East and the old complexities of the war in Vietnam whose bitter end he presided over as president, 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.

continued: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701558.html
last edited: 12/28/06 1:20:29 PM”

“Oh Good...well Ford blew his chance in Vietnam. You know I wonder how long the Debris Generation will keep this mantra up about VIETNAM...just becuase they screwed up and failed their Generations Test...why should the rest of us have to fail to make their wussie little egos feel undamaged?”

“"....referring to Bush's assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people."

What a complete and utter moron.

"Debris Generation" ??

That came from Limbaugh, no?

.....complete and utter moron.
last edited: 12/28/06 1:29:38 PM”

“Ford was cool, i liked him.”

“Nope MarkO I made it up...LOL. Figuring how many actually Served, I noted a whole host of those who dodged it make up that crowd of people who now in their declining years see that they had no real Challenge in life (their parents had the Depression, World War II (you know where the Japanese attacked us but we went to war with the Japanese, Germans, Italians),and Korea.”

“stratdewd?

You get a computer for Christmas or what?”

“Hey Strat! Good to see you checking in!”

“When can we expect the "James Brown on the Iraq War" thread? That'd really prove your point. heehee.”

“Always remember and never forget as stated in the article, it was Ford that brought us Rumsfeld, Cheney and George H.W. Bush. Had Nixon not been impeached we may have actually been better off. He gave birth to the neocons.”

“.....complete and utter moron.
mARKo
1:28:05 PM

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!
mARKo calling anyone a moron.

Oh, I can't stop laughing!”

“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061228/ap_on_go_co/ford_senate_leader

Reid to miss Ford funeral
By DENNIS CONRAD, Associated Press Writer

Thu Dec 28, 12:08 AM - Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will miss the state funeral for former President Gerald Ford at the Capitol Rotunda on Saturday night, opting instead to lead a delegation to South America with an expected stop at the Machu Picchu Inca ruins.

Reid, D-Nev., left Wednesday afternoon from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a bipartisan group of five other senators, including Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the incoming assistant majority leader, for what has been described as a weeklong visit to Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

The highlight of the trip is said to be separate meetings with the presidents of the three nations, with the last one scheduled in Peru on Tuesday afternoon.

"They would be difficult to cancel," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said via mobile phone as the congressional delegation took off in a U.S. military plane.

The senators are also scheduled to be in Cuzco, Peru, on Sunday, which would give them an opportunity to view the nearby Inca ruins and anything else in advance of New Year's Eve.

Manley said the senators opted to skip Ford-related ceremonies over the next few days because of the long-scheduled meetings with the South American presidents, noting that U.S. relations with some of the countries are in need of improvement.

Manley did not rule out the possibility that the delegation might return to Washington for at least one Ford-related event, perhaps a church service Tuesday morning. But their meeting with Peru's president, scheduled for the afternoon, could interfere with that, he said.

"Senator Reid has tried to reach Mrs. Ford," Manley said, adding that the senator had not received a return call from her before the delegation had departed for South America. Manley later added that Reid had called the former first lady to express condolences, and also to explain why the delegation might not make it back to Washington for the funeral.

Durbin's office released a statement before he left, calling Ford, who died Tuesday at age 93, "a man of principle, integrity and honesty who helped heal the nation during some of our darkest times." He offered his "deepest condolences" to the Ford family.

Other senators making the trip are Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Robert Bennett, R-Utah, and Ken Salazar, D-Colo.”

“Marko, it's amazing how fast they pop up to prove your point.”

“Man, I'd chose a trip to S. America over a funeral as well!”

“bateaux..you do know that the Ford Bush Dole (and RUMMY) wing had nothing to do with the Reagan/Kemp wing? I heard one talk show host decrying how the Republicans name their people because it is THEIR time. LOL. Ford/Bush 41/Dole got it for that reason, but very few seem to remember the opening days of the 80 campaign where Reagan was regarded negativly by the Blue Bloods (unless you consider the Neocons the Blue Bloods) if that is so I agree.

And we have to remember that the reason Nixon resigned was that when the HINT came out of an impeachment Bob Dole (then Senate Republican Leader) told Nixon that they WOULD NOT SUPPORT him even if it looked like he would win. Becuase of the appearance of a violation.”

“dont worry, the decider is hard at work on a new plan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061228/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

CRAWFORD, Texas -
President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch on Thursday to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq, then emerged to say that he and his advisers need more time to craft the plan he'll announce in the new year.

3 hours? that must have exausted him!”

“AH Boy George//// the year wouldn't be complete without your input......want to compare the work schedule of Bush with say...SLICK?”

“Reid's going to miss Saturday's funeral????

My God!! So is Bush, BTW!

But, who cares! I just want to know if Fox is going to air Sadaam's hanging. Maybe they can put in on adjacent to Extreme Fighting. Something the public can sink their teeth into! Grrrrrrr...

Hey, I got it. Fox doesn't have to refer to it as a hanging. They can call it the "Extreme Pullup Competition!"

Yeah, that's the ticket!”

“bateaux..you do know that the Ford Bush Dole (and RUMMY) wing had nothing to do with the Reagan/Kemp wing? I heard one talk show host decrying how the Republicans name their people because it is THEIR time. LOL. Ford/Bush 41/Dole got it for that reason, but very few seem to remember the opening days of the 80 campaign where Reagan was regarded negativly by the Blue Bloods (unless you consider the Neocons the Blue Bloods) if that is so I agree.

And we have to remember that the reason Nixon resigned was that when the HINT came out of an impeachment Bob Dole (then Senate Republican Leader) told Nixon that they WOULD NOT SUPPORT him even if it looked like he would win. Becuase of the appearance of a violation.”
XL400236

Here is the letter that George H.W. Bush sent to Nixon before he resigned. The only chance the Republicans had to retain the White House was for Nixon to step down.

Dear Mr. President,
It is my considered judgment that you should now resign. I expect in your lonely embattled position this would seem to you as an act of disloyalty from one you have supported and helped in so many ways. My own view is that I would now ill serve a President whose massive accomplishments I will always respect and whose family I love, if I did not now give you my judgment. Until this moment resignation has been no answer at all, but given the impact of the latest development, and it will be a lasting one, I now firmly feel resignation is best for the country, best for this President. I believe this view is held by most Republican leaders across the country. This letter is much more difficult because of the gratitude I will always have for you. If you do leave office history will properly record your achievements with a lasting respect.

George Herbert Walker Bush


I agree with you on the blue-blood issue. Not all the blue bloods liked Reagan. In fact it was George H.W. Bush wo first coined the term Voodoo Economics and applied it to Reagan's "Supply Side Economics" in a primary debate. He was right, "Supply Side Economics" is Voodoo Economics. You basically go on a credit card spending spree at a national scale. This thinking propelled not only the national debt under Reagan but his popularity as well due to the appearance of a healthy economy. In reality Reagan just like Clinton just happened to be at the helm at the right time economically. George H.W. Bush on the other hand had the misfortune of a failing economy and a large public debt. His "Read my lips" speech was his demise. In an attempt to deal with the public debt he signed into law the largest tax increase in history. That sealed his fate, he would have been far better off letting the credit card ride and pumping debt dollars into the economy. Even then smooth talking and youthful Bill Clinton would have been hard to beat. Had Bush 41 been reelected the economy would have started to improve on his watch. Instead Clinton was able to soak up all the economic glory. When in fact he did little to get that economic ball rolling initially. It was in his second term that the economy really started to roll. The so call "New Economy" was so hot that the taxes collected national were in surplus of spending for the first time in generations. I remember the nation debt clock running backwards. How much of that is a credit to Clinton? Not much, Clinton wasn't stroking the economy we all know what was being stroked. He was sucessful by just leaving the economy to Greenspan. We all had fat wallets so we didn't care so much about Monica's fat lips.”