Woodward: Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

[Mark E. Smith]

By Bob Woodward
Washington Post
December 28, 2006
Page A01

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 had launched the invasion
advocated and carried out by prominent veteran's 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."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701558.html

[Auggie]

1. Too little, too late...

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

4. That's the problems with Woodward

Always embargoing everything for his books. Ford said this in July 2004. Before the November 2004 election. It could have made a difference had it not been "embargoed."

[Tin Man]

6. To be fair, according to the article, Ford stipulated info be withheld until his death.

...Woodward only honoring Ford's conditions for the interview.

[Mark E. Smith]

7. Makes it a kind of going away present ...

... for his old pals Dick and Rummy.

[LeahD]

18. What is it with this brotherhood of ex-Presidents that they will

not speak out and do what is in the best interests of our country???
Well, Carter is speaking, but he doesn't get meaningful coverage.

[ProudDad]

75. In that case, Ford's a sh*t

and a wimpy, hypocrite...

and a lousy golfer...

[Joe Bacon]

43. Bob Whoreward only cares about his bank account and stock portfolio

He's just such a selfish pre$$titute!

[Lipton64]

71. Woodward wants the moolah for himself....

Exclusive interviews always make good material for lucrative bestsellers....

[depakid]

92. Woodward has ZERO credibility in my book

He's proven over the past 6 years that he'll say or do just about anything without regard for truth or ethics. He's a perfect match for the Post.

[originalpckelly]

2. DAMN! Dickie and Georgie aren't going to be happy with this.

:rofl:

[harun]

8. Yep, going to be hard to discredit a president who just

died who they will need to honor.

[Tellurian]

51. And after all the accolades heaped in tandem on Ford by Bush/Cheney

They are left with ruby red faces.

They blundered through prosaic words of tearful praise for the late president
little knowing, today, the rug they thought was nailed securely to the floor by
sheer allegiance to the neoconic cult, would be yanked out from under them by
an embargoed legacy in Ford's own words.

Now, I am sure, Ford regretted pardoning Nixon as was the Bush/Cheney propagandist plan to
'heal a wounded country.' So much tripe, so little time. I say!

[Yukari Yakumo]

80. I'm sure that was Ford's plan all along

If he came out against the war when he was alive, BushCo would have condemned him and MSM would have ignored him.... or worse.

In a way, Ford became more powerful in death than he would have been alive.

After Chimpy & Pals and MSM heaped all the praise they could on him, Ford can lower the boom on them and there is not a God damned thing they can do about it.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

3. Kick!

[lynne]

5. What a QUANDARY!

Hate Ford because he pardoned Nixon. Love Ford because he disagreed with Bush on Iraq. Hate Ford because he pardoned Nixon. Love Ford because he disagreed with Bush on Iraq.

How can I ever properly politicize his death with all this contradiction!

:sarcasm:

[wellst0nev0ter]

15. Still Hate Ford

Because he kept this to himself. A reich-wing tool to the end, yessiree.

[CoffeeCat]

38. That's my thought...

Why do these people remain silent?

For God's sake, our frickin country is going down the drain, and an ex-president isn't
even brave enough to stand up against the BushCo/neocon crimes?

I appreciate knowing that a former Republican president does not agree with this
perversity. However, I will never understand why the supposed-best-and-brightest
in the world stand by and say nothing.

[LiberalFighter]

50. What would Ford had considered acceptable?

Probably no different then the WMD excuse.

Even Saddam torturing and abusing Iraqis would not be an acceptable reason. If it was then why pick on Iraq and not the other countries like China or USSR (when it existed)?

[coalition_unwilling]

54. Ford died with the blood of 650,000 Iraqi civilians on his hands for

not speaking out before his death.

[vssmith]

74. I suppose Ford speaking out earlier would have stopped our

Reich Fuhrer.

[coalition_unwilling]

88. We will never know. But it seems to me if you are opposed to

something like a war and your voice has the possibility of influencing the decision, you have a moral obligation to speak out (a la Daniel Ellsberg).

[Liberty Belle]

30. Ford has always struck me as an honest man who stood up for what he believed in.

I have often disagreed with him, but I can still respect someone who does what they feel is right. Far too many politicians today do only what is politically expedient, or worse, sell out to the highest bidder- lobbyists or corporate cronies.

[0007]

58. Ford always struck me as a first class mindless fool

that was easily persuaded . Tom Osborn is another Senator that is dumber than a box of rocks. Imaged for one moment Senator Osborn being president of the United States.

[freefall]

61. So just how does being afraid to speak out when he sees terrible

mistakes being made make him someone who "stands up for what he believes in"? And he had absolutely nothing to lose at the time he gave that interview to Woodward except that he would have taken flak from a lot of Republican party hacks. Evidently he believed in killing innocent civilians and allowing soldiers to die for lies.

Peace,

freefall

[ProudDad]

76. Sold out to the highest bidder

"Since his term in office, Ford has been active and has served on numerous corporate boards."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/NEWS06/612280336/1009/NEWS07

[RProser]

95. How do you feel about the Kennedys? Ford received a Kennedy

Foundation Profiles in Courage for the pardon?

How do you feel about Bill Clinton? He awarded Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Back to the pardon - without it, highly unlikely Jimmy Carter would have been elected. Of course, without Jimmy, the "Reagan Revolution" would never have happened. And on and on and on....

[tanyev]

9. It would be great if this became a big news story before Bush & Cheney

have to show their faces at the funeral.

[Tellurian]

56. It Will..

They're still showing clips of Bush stating how HONEST a man Ford was..

By tomorrow, all hell will be broken loose with this serendipitous post mortem addition of facts.

This is KO territory!

[Lisa]

93. yes, that's nice timing, isn't it!

Not just a voice from beyond the grave ... but props to the person (Woodward?) who waited until after Bush had released the boilerplate "great leader" statement, before playing back the tape.

Ford had to know this would happen -- and that his former staffers Cheney and Rumsfeld, in particular, would be squirming.

[still_one]

10. where was his voice when it was needed, or for that matter I don't recall

any of the other past presidents condemn it in 2003. Just like when Congress voted for the IWR they all relinquished their responsiblity

As far a Woodward, he can go to hell. Exposing Watergate was no act of courage, because Nixon's popularity was at a low. When he helped lie and push us into the Iraq disaster, and praised bush after 9/11, that also took no courage, because at that time the idiots in this country gave bush a high popularity reading.

Now when realization sets in, and bush's popularity is low, woodward has no problem writing about the errors of this administration

We were all blind during watergate, and thought woodward was such a great journalist, when in reality he was nothing but a whore, which became quite evident when he went on talk shows saying the leak of a CIA agent was nothing, when he himself was up to his neck in it. Not only should the washington post have fired him on the spot, but his fellow so-called journalist should have condemned him for his treachery

[deminks]

11. Brutal on Kissinger

(snip)

Kissinger was not happy. "Mr. President, the press will misunderstand this," Ford recalled Kissinger telling him. "They'll write that I'm being demoted by taking away half of my job." But Ford made the changes, elevating the deputy national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, to take Kissinger's White House post.

Throughout this maneuvering, Ford said, he kept his White House chief of staff in the dark. "I didn't consult with Rumsfeld. And knowing Don, he probably resented the fact that I didn't get his advice, which I didn't," Ford said. "I made the decision on my own."

Kissinger remained a challenge for Ford. He regularly threatened to resign, the former president recalled. "Over the weekend, any one of 50 weekends, the press would be all over him, giving him unshirted hell. Monday morning he would come in and say, 'I'm offering my resignation.' Just between Henry and me. And I would literally hold his hand. 'Now, Henry, you've got the nation's future in your hands and you can't leave us now.' Henry publicly was a gruff, hard-nosed, German-born diplomat, but he had the thinnest skin of any public figure I ever knew."

Ford added, "Any criticism in the press drove him crazy." Kissinger would come in and say: "I've got to resign. I can't stand this kind of unfair criticism." Such threats were routine, Ford said. "I often thought, maybe I should say: 'Okay, Henry. Goodbye,' " Ford said, laughing. "But I never got around to that."

Some may find this endearing. I think of it as monsters eating their own.

[AnnieBW]

12. Did Ford Speak Up In 2004?

Why didn't he tell this to his former pals Dick and Rummy before they got in over their heads? Why didn't he say anything when he spoke at the Repub convention in 2004?

Ford did a lot of good things - namely marrying Betty and letting her be Betty - but he was never outspoken on certain issues.

[burrowowl]

19. Did Ford speak up when

TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* President Gerald Ford Dies at 93; Supported Indonesian Invasion of East
Timor that Killed 1/3 of Population*

Former President Gerald Ford died last night at the age of 93. We begin our
coverage of Ford¹s time in office with a look at his support for the
Indonesian invasion of East Timor that killed one-third of the Timorese
population. We¹re joined by Brad Simpson of the National Security Archives
and journalist Alan Nairn.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1638254



Go to Democracy Now and find out why not.

[MnFats]

37. heard that. i was hoping someone would post it....

...Ford wound up with blood on his hands, just like the rest of them. But what do you expect, he kept evil incarnate Henry Kissinger on board. Kissinger saw to it there was plenty of blood to be spilled.

[babylonsister]

13. What's an 'embargoed' interview?

I'm happy to read this; thanks.

[journalist3072]

16. It means that it cannot be released until a specified date and/or time

In this case, it was embargoed until Ford's death.

Many times, press releases will also be embargoed. You might see a press release that says "Ebargoed until December 30, 2006" meaning it cannot be released/disseminated until then.

[babylonsister]

20. So Ford must have embargoed it.

Why wouldn't Ford want to admit his displeasure at this admin? Not prezidently?

And thanks for the info. :hi:

[journalist3072]

23. Yes, Ford was the one who instructed that the interview not be released

until his passing.

And I agree with you. Why would he not want to make his feelings on the Iraq war known while he was living?

I know we here on DU are supposed to be feeling all warm and fuzzy over him today, lest the people from Freeperville think we are mean spirirted.

But make no mistake about it, Ford was a partisan. He made sure to make his feelings about the Clinton/Lewinsky affair known to the public. He wrote an op/ed about it in October 98 and called for Clinton to be "rebuked."

Yet, he didn't want to make his feelings on this Iraq war known until after he did. Interesting, isn't it?

[jmowreader]

39. "Rebuking" Clinton would have been the right thing to do

He needed one grade-A Congressional Censure. That was all he needed. Just chew his ass and let him get back to the business of running the country.

The Republicans didn't see it that way--they had a full-scale Impeachment Circus over something that pales in comparison to even the mildest thing St. Ronnie did.

So, in a way, Ford was right.

[Tellurian]

57. Apparently, Ford knew how vicious and volatile BushI&II&Cheney

could be if he tampered with the PNAC Plan. The PNAC plan was an agreed to foregone conclusion
by the majority of Right Wing Radicals. Sure, Ford could have spoken out against the Iraq War...
but what and where would it have gotten him? He would have been a voice alone in the darkness,
said to be sabotaging Bush's efforts for democracy. Rove would have ordered the RW Attack machine to
silence Ford, if not temporarily, permanently. The Bush machine would have cranked up and destroyed
Ford while he lived and the only thing he would have accomplished was self destruction.

No, I think Ford's hands have been tied all along. Even when he was president.

[Tekla West]

69. Sad to say

I have to agree that this is close to the truth.

[Tellurian]

77. I'm amazed...

no one else recognizes Ford was between the rock and the hard place all these years.
His quotes demonstrate, he knew the game well, the last word in via Woodword...
and perhaps, the last laugh, as well.

I sort of admire his willful forethought to ultimately speak his mind without fear of recrimination..

[Spearman87]

89. Also, things have gotten steadily worse in Iraq

Back in July 2004, I would bet you that Ford was hoping we could create something good out of the situation even though he'd never have gone in in the first place, i.e., he was hoping we could leave behind a stable democracy sooner rather than later**. So what purpose would it serve for him to publicly criticize our efforts other than to undermine them. Typical politics.....you don't have to critique your own when the other side will do that for you. What purpose would it have served for Dems who abhored Clinton's behavior to be publicly all over him back in '98?


(**Hec, I still hope something good can come out of this, even if it's 20 years down the road.....I sure would prefer to see a stable, prospering Iraq and some semblance of a democracy there instead of some the much worse possible alternatives)

[flyarm]

14. did he really mean he disagreed with them going to war..or just how they justified it??

look at this statement...

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."

it seems to me ..he was saying he didn't like how they were justifying going to war using wmd as a reason..

and the.." what they were going to do"..seeems to me h e was saying..they were going to do this ..so why did they use wmd as the excuse..

i don't know..anyone else see it that way??

fly

[LeahD]

21. It's somewhat murky, because he qualifies his statement.... "based on

publicly available information.........."

Describing his own preferred policy toward Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Ford said he would not have gone to war, based on the publicly available information at the time, and would have worked harder to find an alternative. "I don't think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly," he said, "I don't think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer."

[ryanmuegge]

22. Yeah, just like everyone else in Washington..

The actual policy is dandy. However, the actors executed poorly or they put together a bad PR campaign.

[flyarm]

28. thanks for your replies..both great!!..n/t

[Rose Siding]

46. He's blasting the *policy* of "spreading democracy" when it isn't in our

nat'l interest.

I think that the timing of this release was cagy on Ford's part. At the time of the interview, Republican's (et al) who disagreed with bush was dismissed as confused or irrelevant. That would surely be as far as the opinion of the low-profile Ford would have gotten.

This way, Ford's thrown a wrench into the admin's ability to hide behind a mantle of a Nation United In Grief. His critique will get some play.

Nice parting shot, imo.

[earlybelle]

17. When good people fail to speak up and stand up they give men like Hitler and Bush

power and authority to do what we are seeing in Iraq and what we have seen all through history of colonializtaion by the Brits and the US.

I just bought "Bambi" for my three year old and all I have to say is: "Man...is in the forest."
After viewing the movie I wondered to myself why the RW, conservative, fundamentalists haven;t clled for a ban on the it.

[grytpype]

24. Spin that, freetards.

Seriously. Let's see them try to put a good face on that.

[berni_mccoy]

25. THREE HUGE Problems With this Article!!!! ===>

1. What the hell is an embargoed interview?
2. BushCo DID NOT make a MISTAKE or ERROR
3. BushCo DID NOT Justify the war in Iraq

[Amonester]

65. 1 good answer + 2 agreements

Answer to question 1.: see reply #16 above.

Agreement to statement 2.: BushCo did not make a mistake or error. They succeeded in their decades-long wicked RW plan to defraud the American People in a way nobody else ever succeeded before in the entire history of (hu-)mankind (they did an awful lot better than the German Nazis ever only dreamed of).

Agreement to statement 3.: BushCo did not justify the war in Iraq. They lied, lied, and lied again. In fact, they still lie every day, and they will lie until they're out of power. Even long after that liberating day, no doubt about it.

[Olney Blue]

26. I wish he had said this when it counted.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. What a great guy...

All his life he was a loyal republican; and after he died he decided to be a loyal American.

Just another goddam thug.

[hfojvt]

49. what is a loyal Republican?

Ford "Wrote a piece supporting affirmative action, a case the Bush administration decided to argue on the other side:

http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeche...


And then there is his wife, Betty. She was/is not a 'Stepford wife':

"She did not hesitate to state her views on controversial issues such as the Equal Rights Amendment, which she strongly supported."

We would praise somebody, like Lieberman, if they showed loyalty to their party, but Ford sorta predates the time when Reaganites took over the Republican party. I tend to think that if current Republicans in office were more like Ford, that the Republican party would not be totally evil. For example, when Ford ran in 1976, I do not believe he campaigned on the basis of "tax cuts (for the wealthy)" like every Republican candidate has since St. Ronnie.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

64. Betty was certainly no plastic First Lady...

And I have to agree that Ford was not a Ray-gun republican. He was more of a Nixon republican. Even Tricky Dick recognized the value of a healthy environment.

I was speaking mainly of this posthumous revelation of the interview, which was most certainly Ford's doing. Why would he not wish his opinions to be revealed at the time they were most needed? I can only think of two reasons:

1) He was afraid of what retribution might be enacted against him.
or
2) He was afraid his opposition would make the republicans appear weak.

If fear was his motivating factor, why didn't he express that in the interview, as well? I'm left to believe that he was protecting his crooked party members.

Unfortunately, the link you offered does not work. If you know of another, I'd enjoy reading what Mr Ford had to say about Affirmative Action...

[Tuesday_Morning]

29. What a chickenshit game that is.

Disgusting.

[flordehinojos]

31. why didn't he have the balls to say publicly say this waaay back.

why did he need to pardon nixon before a trial?

why did he need to protect rumsfeld and cheney?

what a whole bunch of sorry asses. just like colin powell. not enough balls to say or do the right thing. always needing to protect people who needed to be jailed for their crimes against humanity. three saying it when it no longer counts or makes a difference, courage does not equate.

[saracat]

32. Some responses in this thread are silly. Any politically experienced

person understands why this was embargoed, and there is no reason to condemn Ford because he didn't take a totally liberal outlook regarding the war. Not everyone has to agree. It is more than enough that he said what he did and frankly, it hurts Bush more coming out at this time as the media celebrates Ford's legacy.RIP Pres. Ford. I am ashamed by some of the rampant partisan bigotry I have read on DU.

[Theduckno2]

33. Thank you.

Just a few words in defence of President Ford.

1.At the time he was over 90 years old and the right wing talking heads would have treated him as a dottering fool. Don't think so? Remember what Rush Limbaugh said about Micheal J. Fox or Sen. Kerry being swiftboated? By the way, thanks Rush, we needed Missouri!

2. At that time the situation in Iraq wasn't good, but it was a damn sight better than today. The gift of hindsight is marvelous.

3. If you are over 90 years old, you can't really expect to live a long time. For all he knew he would be dead in a matter of months.

4. How much of a difference would it have made anyway? Brent Scrowcroft, presumably at the behest of 41, penned an oped for a major paper expressing doubts over war with Iraq and look what good that did.

No, I expect that President Ford felt that ex-Presidents shouldn't criticize sitting Pretzeldents.

edit spelling

[Nevernose]

34. Hindsight?

I'll give you 1, 3, and 4, but HINDSIGHT? I, like millions of Americans, and most of the rest of the world, knew where this Iraq thing was headed well before we invaded. No "gift of hindsight" needed, just the intelligence of foresight.

[Theduckno2]

35. OK, fair enough. That was a little weak.

I did have in mind the entire Middle East though.

How could he know that Kerry would lose? Had he won, instituted a better foreign policy, maybe some sort of a draw was possible, that could have left the right wing talking heads claiming victory.

Who could have easily predicted the Israeli/Lebanon conflict and its outcome.

Who could have easily predicted Hamas winning in the occupied territories and the subsequent events?

I agree that the Iraq war was doomed from the outset, no "victory" was possible, it was both unjust and illegal.

I do believe that in 2004 many more palatable outcomes could still have taken place in Iraq/ Middle East.

[Spearman87]

90. Regarding #4, you mean he wrote that

.....before we actually went into Iraq?

[Buzz Clik]

45. Ford's opinion about the war and the administration were known to Bush et al.

In an interview I watched yesterday taped a couple of years ago, Cheney responded that he respected Ford's opinion and would take it into consideration.

So, the Woodward interview may have been "embargoed", but Ford's outlook was known.

[coalition_unwilling]

55. How many Iraqi civilians' lives (and U.S. soldiers' lives) might

have been saved had Ford spoken out before his death?????

[WilliamPitt]

78. Not a single one

Do you really, honestly believe Gerald Ford could have stopped the Iraq war by speaking out?

coalition_unwilling, you know as well as I do that if the God of the Righteous had swooped down from heaven in February of 2003, driving a team of golden horses and riding a flaming chariot, if He landed on the Capitol Dome and, in a stentorian voice so loud and commanding even the guys in the International Space Station can hear it like He's right next to them, denounced with scathing Biblical righteousness the evil and cruelty of any plan to invade and occupy Iraq...

...Ashcroft would have had him arrested for disturbing the peace.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Ford. This one you've raised, in my opinion, is far off base. Ford couldn't have stopped the thing unless maybe he declared his intention to fast unto death unless the war ended...and even then, I'm not sure it would have helped.

[GenDem]

62. This story is in heavy rotation this news cycle.

It is most definitely anti Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and even Kissinger in its content. It puts another republican face in the anti-Iraq war camp. Instead of vilifying Ford, or questioning his timing...can't we be grateful that he said it? It seems kind of silly that people here are even picking apart Fords criticisms of * and his cabal. It's a criticism of policy for gods sake!

I agree with you, saracat.

I was a teenager when Ford was president. I don't remember any of his policy decisions...I'll have to google the East Timor stuff to learn more about it. I only know that Ford never generated the kind of anger I feel for *, his father, or ray-gun. And as far as first ladies go...I think that Betty Ford was one of the best!

My first presidential election that I participated in --at age 18 -- was Carter / Ford. I voted for Carter, but I never disliked Ford.
:shrug:

[Erika]

36. Ford waited until he died to condemn this damn war of W

GHWB should have done so long ago. But his globalists buddies are getting the biggest paychecks of their lives through the redistribution of American workers paychecks to the rich.

His and W's buds have never had it better.

[liberal N proud]

42. ABC played tape this am of Ford

said he didn't want it released until his death

[disndat]

47. Precisely

Succinct and to the point. Writers and reporters take up thousands of words and a forest of trees to say the same thing while Bushco, including Baker III, ISG leader, are moving tons of taxpayers' money into their offshore bank accounts.

[fujiyama]

40. Ford wasn't crazy or stupid

I'll give him that much credit.

Sure, it would have been great if he voiced some criticism earlier, but Ford never seemed to be the type to criticize the current administration regardless of who was in power (someone correct me if he made statements being critical of Clinton when he was in office). I know he did oppose impeachment of Clinton. And anyways, I can't imagine his voice having much of an impact - the media would have attacked him the way they have with Carter over the years when he voices criticism. Ford would simply have been trashed by the right wing media as never having been elected. Ford was never really loved by anyone it seems, until now.

Does it make Ford less politically courageous than Carter? Sure, I think that's obvious. But I don't really expect ex-presidents to have much of a role in public debate. Each president handles their post presidency different.

Plus, I think this new piece of info makes it all the more impossible for republicans to capitalize on Ford's death in any way...and shows how out of touch this republican party is with more moderate members like Ford.

[goforit]

73. I see him being a little naive with his fellow subordinates Cheney/Rumsfeld.

[Vinca]

41. How sad.

He might have undone some of the Nixon pardon damage if he'd spoken out in 2004. What a shame party trumps decency.

[oneinok]

44. Ford Disagreed With Bush About 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.
http://www.military.com/earlybrief

[Bandit]

48. "an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

Not what they were going to do but how they should justify it. He did not like the "liberating Iraq" I guess.

[Briar]

52. How disgraceful

He didn't object to the war. He just objected to the fanciful (and of course hypocritical) notion that the US was killing Iraqis for their own good. The reason he would have accepted was that it was in America's own self interest. And still they ask: "Why do they hate us?"

[NoAmericanTaliban]

53. This will embarrass Bush & Co. at the funeral

it is being mentioned in the press & will be mentioned during the funeral. Talked about awkward moment. Good parting shot. Ford was not loved by the Christo-Fascists that are now running the GOP that came in with St. Ronnie. Ronnie was bitter that he lost the primary in '76 and refused to help Ford's campaign. In fact, he spoke bad about Ford and this was one of the reasons Carter beat Ford. The fundies are still upset about the Breyer nomination. The Nixon pardon will always be debated & Ford was wrong on this. He was a moderate republican and the last decent Repug that was Prez. As a congressmen he fought a lot of defense projects and refused to have defense factories built in his district just to get votes. He was not a perfect man and and made plenty of mistakes. He had more integrity in his little finger than * has in his whole body. If the prez has to be a repug I would rather have Ford than St. Ronnie or King Bush.

[freefall]

59. Too bad Ford had to go out as a coward when he could have

spoken out and possibly helped save lives. Evidently, saving face and not rocking the party boat were more important to him than saving lives.

Peace,

freefall

[Zorra]

60. *snarf*.....Well...isn't that courageous.

I'm sure all the people that lost loved ones or their legs arms or eyesight in this fiasco appreciate this very tardy posthumous candor.

Not.

If something is fucking wrong, and you know it's wrong (especially if this wrong thing is going to kill hundreds of thousands of people), maybe the best time to say something is before all those nice folks are already dead.

[jobycom]

63. He's not a journalist, he's a political gossip columnist. Same thing he did

with William Casey. After Casey's death, Woodward claimed he had snuck into Casey's hospital room, where Casey was reportedly in a coma, and had spoken to him about Reagan and Iran/Contra. Never told us who knew what and when they knew it, but we "learned" that Casey thought Reagan was an intelligent man, but rather intellectually lazy.

It's hard to think of Woodward as significant anymore. He "reports" things that don't mean anything by the time he reports them, and can't be verified anyway. America needs to know details about the inner thoughts of our leaders so we can form our opinions before an earth-shaking event happens. Woodward only tells us what they were thinking after it's too late to do anything. Maybe Ford did oppose the invasion privately. Maybe Casey did think Reagan was lazy and out of touch. Maybe some in the Bush administration did think it was "slam dunk" that Hussein had WMDs. But knowing that long after the fact doesn't mean a damn thing, especially since we can't even verify these beliefs.

He's a gossip columnist. He's become the Larry King or Barbara Walters of the political scene. When was the last time we learned something useful from him?

[VegasWolf]

66. This will get the 18% monkey brains that still support Bush all a twitter! nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

67. Another bad day for the Chimp

Whether we look at this as "too little, too late" or "better late than never" on Ford's part, it is further reinforcement for the notion that history will judge ChimpCo as a completely failed Presidency, with a legacy of lies, incompetence, and needless death.

[Book Lover]

68. You sickening coward, Mr. Ford.

And to hell with the reporters and their bosses who agreed to these terms.

[Lipton64]

70. Read Ron Reagan's take on his father vs. Dubya, it speaks volumes.....

James Baker, Colin Powell, and the rest of the pragmatists who existed in the Republican party before the neocons wrested control from them have all been purged. Look at Pat Buchanan if you don't believe me. Who would ever have thought he would be one of the most viral anti-neocon, anti-Bush critics?

Not only Reagan but also read Bush's fathers Time magazine article in 1998 about why he didn't invade Iraq and where he talks about an "unwinnable urban guerilla war" - the exact same shit we're facing now. The neocons subverted and took control of Junior's mind - and we're paying for it sadly now.

[goforit]

72. Well, well Woodward. You're gonna have to work harder than this!

[knight_of_the_star]

79. Too late Gerry

You could have said something before you died, but then again you can always be happy in that special place Dante talks about.

[Yukari Yakumo]

81. To all of you who are bitching and whining with "he should've came out sooner"...

Tell me, if he did this when he was alive, do you seriously believe the MSM would've reported it? Or that Chimpy would've cared?

To all of you who are doing nothing but bitching and whining, please do the world a favor and shut the Hell up.

That is my challenge to everyone who comes after me. Answer my first question. Otherwise, shut up.

[SaneInSC]

82. Maybe

They report(ed) Pres. Carter's objections. He has been all over the place speaking out via books, and extended interviews on C-Span and even MSNBC 's Hardball. Stands to reason they might want to hear from a former republican president not named bush. While bush2 most probably wouldn't have cared in the least, perhaps some influential citizens may have, and subsequently "dialed back" their support. If people don't even make the attempt for fear that it will fall on deaf ears, well at least they tried, which I suppose is all any of us can do.

What would have happened to Ford for speaking out? Would they have taken his millions or had him "silenced"? Doubtful. The coward.

[aein]

83. whatever happened to respect for the dead? RIP Mr. Ford

[Peggy Day]

86. President Ford? just trying to be respectful. nt

[curiousdemo]

84. His last dying request.....

was to rebuke Sulfur-in-Chief. With these SOB's, they will probably send out their attack dogs to denounce Ford. Bush said it himself "Dead or Alive" where going to attack anyone again us. Bush, "You're with us or against us"

[Peggy Day]

85. Did he ask Ford about the Warren commission?

No one seems to talk about his role in that fiasco. Kennedy's death started our country on a bad direction. If someone can kill a president, what won't they do? Ford changed the report, and it would have been great if someone asked him about it, and he came clean.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

87. I've read the thread...I agree with Tellurian, Saracat and Will Pitt on this one

(and with their opinions on many other threads, I might add)

[Cha]

91. Ford was right..bush

was Wrong AGAIN.

[Imagevision]

94. Bushco and the white house still refusing comment on Ford's statement!!

I guess george will simply avoid answering it as will Cheney!

[struggle4progress]

96. Apparently Republicans don't disagree with Republicans while still alive