Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted in his memoirs that he made a mistake when he claimed that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction in locations around Baghdad and Tikrit, which was one of the main arguments for launching the invasion of Iraq.
Rumsfeld now says: "I misspoke" and that he actually meant to say that there were "suspicious sites", reported the British daily "The Guardian".
This is one of the many moments described in the 815-page autobiography "Known and Unknown", in which he tries to revise the history of the George W. Bush administration, on issues from Iraq to Guantanamo Bay.
Rumsfeld is one of the most controversial figures from the Bush era and his autobiography has been long overdue. The Guardian received an advance copy of the memoir.
Rumsfeld also oversaw the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and said harsh interrogation techniques were necessary when obtaining information could save American lives. But he did not approve of techniques such as 'waterboarding', which simulates drowning.
He criticized Barack Obama for attacking the Bush administration over Guantánamo, without even being able to close it himself. According to Rumsfeld, many decisions of the Bush administration are still in force.
The former US secretary also criticized Obama's increasing use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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