Chicago: George W Bush recounted the
mistakes of his presidency on Oprah Winfrey's talk show as he
launched a book tour to promote his just-released memoir
"Decision Points".
The former president said he still feels "sick about"
the fact no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.
His response to Hurricane Katrina could have been quicker, he
said, and he should have landed Air Force One two days after
the storm instead of viewing the destruction through the
plane's window. And he said he didn't see the financial
meltdown coming.
The former president appeared today in a taped episode
of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Writing the memoir, he said, "was
an easy process" that has kept him busy.
"A lot of people don't think I can read, much less
write," Bush joked on the programme.
The world is better off without Saddam Hussein, Bush
said, even though the invasion that toppled the Iraqi leader
was based on faulty intelligence about the existence of
weapons of mass destruction.
"When we didn't find weapons I felt terrible about it,
sick about it and still do, because a lot of the case in
removing Saddam Hussein was based upon weapons of mass
destruction," Bush said. He added that Hussein was "equally
dangerous" without WMDs.
On Katrina, Bush said he didn't land Air Force One to
view the submerged New Orleans up close because he was worried
about taking resources away from rescue efforts.
"I shouldn't have flown over and looked. I made a
mistake. I should have landed," Bush said. "I didn't realise a
picture of me looking out would look like I didn't give a
darn."
Continuing to discuss Katrina, Bush said he should
have sent federal troops to help with security in New Orleans
sooner, but was waiting for authority from Louisiana state
government.
Bush flared against critics who called his Katrina
response racist. Winfrey reminded him that rapper Kanye West
said during a 2005 telethon for hurricane survivors that
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 16:26