WMDs never Bush's main focus: Clinton

Former president of the United States Bill Clinton says the Bush administration may have used claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for going to war against the country.

In an interview with the ABC's Enough Rope program, Mr Clinton says he believes the main concern for the administration was to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

"To shake up the authoritarian Arab regimes in the Middle East, to make Israel feel more secure and to give America more leverage in making peace between Palestinians and Israelis," he said.

"I think that in the beginning this whole weapons of mass destruction thing for them was maybe a good way for them to get their foot in the door, but not the major issue for them."