Ford Joins War Critics Posthumously

A few days after his death at 93, former US President Gerald R. Ford has joined the ranks of those opposed to the war in Iraq-Nam. In an interview given to Bob Woodward in 2005 and embargoed until Mr. Ford’s demise, the 39th president said, “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. 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.”

The ex-president’s club is the most exclusive club on the planet (even more exclusive than the Society of Reigning European Monarchs), and one of the rules is “thou shalt not publicly criticize the sitting president.” It is an excellent rule in that it allows the man in the Oval Office a chance to do his job. Also, it allows the ex-es to evolve into elder statesmen after rather muddy careers of political hackery. Thus, not even the president’s father has weighed in publicly on the great issue of the day.

Mr. Ford, of course, could have continued that tradition from beyond the grave by merely refusing to answer Mr. Woodward’s questions about Iraq-Nam. However, he chose to reply, and that in itself is a significant point. “Criticism from beyond the grave” may sound overly dramatic, but that’s what the interview is. Mr. Ford was nothing if not polite and straight-talking; so, his criticisms weigh all the more heavily as a result.

The former president also said, “Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people.” However he doubted “whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what’s in our national interest.” Mr. Ford more bluntly stated, “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.” A more intellectual observer might ask if it is possible to “free” a people who don’t seem to object to their current situation.

Mr. Ford also offered his own approach to the Saddamite problem, “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. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer.”

Someday, one hopes it will be sooner rather than later, the American government will realize that the troops it currently has in Iraq-Nam cannot achieve any good, let alone any meaningful strategic objective, and bring them home. On that bittersweet morning, the nation would do well to remember something Mr. Ford said a generation ago, “As I rejected amnesty, so I reject revenge. I ask all Americans who ever asked for goodness and mercy in their lives, who ever sought forgiveness for their trespasses, to join in rehabilitating all the casualties of the tragic conflict of the past.” Here’s hoping there’s another Gerry Ford in Washington when he’s needed.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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