I did more than anyone else in persuading the U.S. to get rid of Saddam.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was very much in favor of the Iraq invasion.
I sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free, not to make them American. Iraqis will write their own history and find their own way.
I urge the Iraqi leadership for sake of its own people... to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people.
The issue of what my role in the - in persuading the Bush administration to go to war has been greatly exaggerated.
In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war with Iraq because it was going to destabilize the Middle East.
I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good.
Yeah, I volunteered to support the troops, and get out there and show them that we care about them.
I am an opponent of Saddam Hussein, but an opponent also, of the sanctions that have killed a million Iraqi children and an opponent of the United States' apparent desire to plunge the Middle East into a new and devastating war.
On the contrary, I tried on numerous occasions to convince the American president not to go to war. I did what was within my capabilities to avoid that happening.
My goal in Baghdad was to facilitate a debate here in the United States on America's policy toward Iraq, a debate that's been sadly lacking.