false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167881551m/27507.jpg 27507 10 The 2003 American invasion of Iraq was contentious, not just in the arena of global public opinion, but within the tight-lipped world of the George W. Bush White House. As Bob Woodward reveals in Plan of Attack, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were part of a group leading the charge to war while Secretary of State Colin Powell, General Tommy Franks, and others actively questioned the plan to invade a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks while war in Afghanistan was still being waged. Woodward gained extensive access to dozens of key figures and enjoyed hours of direct contact with the President himself (more time, seemingly, than former Bush administration officials Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill claim to have had). As a result, he's able to cite the kind of gossip you won't find in a White House press release: Franks calls Pentagon official Douglas Feith "the f*cking stupidest guy on the face of the earth," Powell shares his alarm over how the cautious Cheney of the first Bush administration had transformed into a zealot, and Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar seems to enjoy significantly more entrée and influence than most anyone would have thought. Bush is shown as a man intent on toppling Saddam Hussein in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and never really wavering in his decision despite offering hints that non-military solutions could be achieved. Light is also shed on CIA director George Tenet, who insists that the evidence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction was "a slam dunk" only to later admit that his intelligence was flawed when months of post-war searches turned up nothing. But the book's most interesting character is Powell. A former soldier himself, who finds himself increasingly at odds with the agenda of the administration, Powell rejects evidence on WMDs that he sees as spurious but ultimately endorses the invasion effort, apparently out of duty. Upon its publication, the Bush administration roundly denied many of the accounts in the book that demonstrated conflict within their circles, poor judgment, or lousy planning, but the Bush/Cheney reelection campaign nonetheless listed Plan of Attack as recommended reading. And it is. It shows alarming problems in the way the war was conceived and planned, but it also demonstrates the tremendous conviction and dedication of the people who decided to carry it out. --John Moe 1055317 5 10 2004 Plan of Attack total:664|5:61|4:260|3:262|2:75|1:6| 664 2287 884 57 5 2 false false Sat May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Thu Sep 13 15:08:10 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 13 15:10:15 -0700 2007 3 1 true false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 22 01:43:03 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 01:55:27 -0700 2008
Read Woodward with caution. His background raises an eyebrow. He comes out of Naval Intelligence, having been, among other things, General Alexander H...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Dec 21 17:46:22 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 21 17:52:59 -0800 2007 This book was good when I first read it, but later when I read Suskind's "One Percent Doctrine" and saw subsequent interviews with the official involved, I felt betrayed by the sensationalism that Woodward made of the situation. The characters and events are not so cut-and-dry as he...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 19:17:21 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 19:27:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 20 12:00:47 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 12 12:38:24 -0800 2009
As I read the book, I was alternately angered and saddened that our leaders could be involved in the tragedy that has been the Iraq war. Bob Woodward is usually attacked as a shill for th...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 09:08:27 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 13:06:51 -0700 2009
Bush: What's our war plan for Iraq...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 29 08:00:30 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 08:01:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Apr 24 13:26:04 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 13:27:28 -0700 2008 4 1 false false Tue Apr 22 13:08:43 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 13:14:48 -0700 2008 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 20:23:41 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 20:27:17 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Thu Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 12:39:17 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 12:45:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sun Oct 26 22:32:15 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 26 22:33:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 true false Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Wed Oct 03 16:05:18 -0700 2007 Tue Dec 04 02:48:29 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Sep 17 06:15:23 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 15:56:03 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 26 15:54:01 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 15:54:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Oct 09 17:01:07 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 15 13:13:01 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jul 08 15:27:10 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 15:28:16 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 06 07:39:26 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 07:49:54 -0800 2008
The book's biggest problem is not really Woodw...more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Feb 06 12:19:30 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 12:20:51 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 06:01:35 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 06:03:05 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=27507