Former President George W. Bush admitted that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded during his administration and said he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, The Grand Rapids Press reported late Wednesday.
“Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” Bush told the Economic Club of Grand Rapids in Michigan. “I’d do it again to save lives.”
Bush also defended his decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003, calling the attacks on 9/11 “a declaration of war on our country.”
“Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and the world is a better place without him,” he said.
Bush, who has maintained a low profile since the end of his presidency, said he would continue to refrain from disparaging President Barack Obama.
“You are not going to see me in the public square criticizing the president,” Bush said, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Addressing the Tea Party Movement that emerged in response to the bank bailout, the economic stimulus package and health care reform, Bush said, “These movements come and go.”
He called former British Prime Minister Tony Blair “my best pal in the international arena” during his presidency and said his wife, Laura, has been “a fabulous companion on one of life’s great journeys.”