Former President George W. Bush reflected on his tenure in the White House during an interview with the Dallas Morning News published Sunday, saying that he was comfortable with his decision-making regarding the Iraq War.
"I'm confident the decisions were made the right way," Bush explained. "It's easy to forget what life was like when the decision was made."
Bush's rare interview comes as he prepares to attend a ceremony for the opening of his presidential library next week in Dallas. He'll be there along with President Barack Obama and every other living former president. Speaking to the Morning News of the legacy that the library is meant to honor, Bush suggested he had few regrets.
"I'm comfortable with what I did," he said. "I'm comfortable with who I am."
The former president's comments come just weeks after an emotional observance of the 10th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and other members of the administration who played integral parts in the war received heavy criticism over that period.
Tomas Young, an Iraq veteran paralyzed during his service, became one of the most powerful voices of the protest when he penned an open letter to Bush and Cheney, blasting them for their "cowardice."
A recent Harvard study attempted to put the human cost of Bush's wars in context, explaining that the expense of covering residual health issues for young soldiers injured in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, will continue to weigh on the system long after the official end of those engagements. According to the paper, the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan together could end up running somewhere between $4 to $6 trillion.
Before You Go
