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Summary: I am puzzled
Review: In writing about a president who sees the world in black and white Woodward has apparently written a book that is shades of grey, that is the book is neither pro-Bush nor anti-Bush. It will please Republicans that Bush is generally portrayed as decisive and does not obey Cheney or his father. Yet it seems that the extremity to which the president has not a doubt about his invasion of Iraq will alarm his critics. What I am puzzled about is when I saw Woodward on 60 minutes, I thought this will be more damaging to the administration than Richard Clarke. Yet I am puzzled by the ferocious attack on Clarke being followed by Woodward being given the official White House seal of approval. I am puzzled by the white house's approval of this book(as well as what their plan is for Iraq) but I think perhaps maybe the wheels are coming off of the white house and that things are unraveling. If that is the case Kerry has a golden opportunity to either exploit or fumble.
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Summary: Very Sad Fiction from an Angry Liberal
Review: I feel sorry for Bob Woodward. Seems he can't let go of the glory years. This is such a slanted and biased account it would be laughable if it weren't so sad. Bob and those like him are fading into the sunset and it's hard for them to accept. Don't waste you time with this one.
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Summary: Missing information
Review: Woodward is obviously a gifted author, and was fortunate to have access to so many top level officials. Remarkably, he makes it seem as if Bush thought of going to war with Iraq on his own. However, several neoconservatives, and friends of Cheney, such as Wolfowitz, Wurmser and Douglas Feith advocated getting rid of Hussein back in 1996. They very much wanted a regime change in the Middle East and demanded to get rid of Israel's enemies. Most readers would have preferred to understand the real reason we went to war, rather than read what most of us know: Bush misled the public (and Cheney continues to do so) with deceptive statements.
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Summary: Excellent Insight
Review: This is one of Mr. Woodward's finest works. His access to the decision makers, their support personnel, and others involved in the job of supporting the President is stunning. It is very clear in reading this book that Mr. Woodward took the time to check and recheck his information.Regardless of what you think of the President, or the war for that matter, if you care about understanding how everyone involved in this historical event behaved, this is the book for you. It is as fair a job of reporting as I have seen in a long time.
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Summary: Bush is the worst president ever.
Review: Dont u think its strange that bush and cheny are talking to the 9/11 commmission in private? They say its a matter of national security. But the whole administration is a bunch of liars. Bush once talked about 1000s of people losing their jobs. He says "we have been through this before".To all republicans, Bush does not know whats its like to fill out application after application only to be turned down after a 2min interview. Bush is a member of a political family, everything he has has been handed to him on silver platter. This country is going downhill and will continue to if bush is ELECTED. Remember republicans, the 2000 election was given to bush. As far as campaign ads go, bush has done nothing but negative ads. This country needs to wake up and see what this man who is trying to be president is doing. As far as the gay issue goes, the republicans are voting for a man who wants to put discrimination in the consitution. Bush only likes democracy when it profits him. Why do you think Cheney is staying out of the gay issue? His daughter is gay.If bush is elected this country will suffer for 4 more years. Plainly put. Bush is stupid who cant even talk right. Learn to be honest bush and the republicans that follow you. Honesty is something the bush administration does not have. He is a liar and a cheat. Clinton's affair is nothing campared to bush's problems. Nobody was killed for having an affair. But 100s are dying for something that will turn into a modern day Vietnam. I truly feel for this country.
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Summary: Great insight - best book on the topic
Review: With the grace of a journalist (Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post)sans the biting overbearing sarcasm of a pundit, Woodward recreates situations encountered by a decision-making team emboldened with power. He really does not stray into bipartisanism but gives us plenty of meat in this book to enable a reader to feel informed without feeling "spun" into space to the right or left. Woodward gets us under the skin of Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Tenet and other influential members of the White House staff as well as British Prime Minister Blair which was very enlightening. Read lots of differing opinions, books and articles and then decide for yourself where you stand but consider this book at the top of the list if you're looking for some facts first.
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Summary: IT'S ON BUSH'S RECOMMENDED READING LIST!
Review: If Bush is recommending that everyone should read this book about himself I amagine he has a reason.
I found it was a cover and an attempt to hide the fact that the invasion was planned in Texas long before W got to DC.
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Summary: Important Read for anyone interested in politics
Review: I just finished the book, the first I have read by Woodward. I agree with other reviewer's comments about how it is written with lots of facts, but few conclusions, like a news story. I was left to figure it out on my own. I am sure Mr. Woodward has most, if not all, of these interviews on tape. Hard for the Bushies to counter what they said. The sad part of the story is that the presence of WMD was fabricated in order to justify the war. It created a binary answer to the justification. Yes, Saddam was an evil man, but the US policy was based on WMD. Here we are a year later and look like fools, no WMD. Not even close. I do have a better impression of Bush in that he really did work with many countries, personally, to get support. Unfortunately, most of them said forget it. The other troubling thing is the extent that Colin Powell, the senior Cabinet Member, was left out in the cold. This is bad, and doesn't bode well for him after the election. All in all, I say this book came out slightly negative toward Bush, depending your perspective. If you take a liberal view, then Bush launched the war and lied to justify it. Cheney was hell-bent to get Saddam. A conservative view would be that he is on a mission to rid the world of terrorists and protect America. However, the real gem of the book is seeing the inner workings of how intertwined politics, military planning, diplomacy, and public relations is. Truth in lending: I am a liberal. Sorry mom.
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Summary: All the President's Men...redux?
Review: As I write this review, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are scheduled to appear before a "sealed" session with the 9/11 Commission. The hubbub seems to be that the proceedings are sealed (i.e. no transcript, recordings, or notes) and the fact that Bush and Cheney are appearing together. The results, as yet unknown, and, according to plan, will never be known. Regardless, this had been a long, strange trip for the U.S. since September 11, 2001, and is proving to become even stranger. We've been regaled with Dick Clarke's book, AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, which, frankly, I found to be well written and articulate. Obviously, an open mind allows for belief and disbelief, but a good book nonetheless. However, in this reviewer's opinion, Clarke's rendition of the 9/11 and the events leading up to the attack aren't as persuasive and well presented as the latest gem by Bob Woodward, PLAN OF ATTACK. As only Woodward could, he has seemingly outdone himself. Who but Woodward could actually sway a sitting president to agree to an interview, with full knowledge that the results would be "interpreted" and published. According to Woodward, Bush sat for more than three hours of interviews along with many others including most top cabinet members. Moreover, Bush ostensibly ordered his aides and cabinet to cooperate with Woodward, and apparently, that's exactly what he received. Consequently, the result is a sobering yet necessary story by arguably the most celebrated political reporter about, again, arguably the most secretive administration in modern times. PLAN OF ATTACK, in a nutshell, is the behind-the-scenes account of the thoughts, conversations, and strategy of why President Bush and his war cabinet decided to wage the current war against Iraq. Although initially focused on Afghanistan, the Taliban, and al Qaeda, Bush ordered and met incessantly with his war planners, including Gen. Tommy Franks for the specific purpose of planning an attack on Iraq. In fact, the focus on Iraq was so intense within the Administration that approximately 100 days after the 9/11 attacks, Gen. Franks visited Bush at his Crawford, TX ranch and laid out the first plan of attack on Iraq at the request of Bush through Don Rumsfeld. This, then, sets the stage for the splashy controversy regarding Bush's mindset after 9/11: was he focused on terrorism or Iraq? (Dick Clarke speaks directly to this question in AGAINST ALL ENEMIES.) 2002 brought about a year of grieving and recovery for the U.S. population as a result of the 9/11 attacks; however, 2002 was a year of planning for the Bush Administration, war planning. The war planning was self-sustaining and had tremendous momentum, shouldered by several Administration officials. Cheney apparently led the charge of removing Saddam by force, perhaps a remnant of not finishing the job in 1991, Woodward muses. But, it wasn't just Cheney. The much ballyhooed statement by CIA Director George Tenet of removing Saddam from power by war as the "only way," and, of course, his further statement that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction as being a "slam dunk" (a reference to Tenet's conclusion that the presence of WMDs was absolute). As the sequence of events push toward the ultimate decision to go to war, Woodward offers the reader interesting perspectives and insight into many of the key players. For instance, in my opinion, Colin Powell, while seemingly at odds with the push toward war, emerged with his reputation intact. And, although always outwardly loyal to the Administration, it is apparent that Powell is the odd man out in this group. He is treated something like a stepchild, particularly by Cheney. Cheney engaged in an ugly political battle with Powell regarding Iraq given Powell's belief that Cheney was obsessively trying to establish a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda regardless the facts presented. This bitter battle raged so intensely that Woodward infers that Powell and Cheney were effectively estranged. The other key player worth mentioning is Tommy Franks. Gen. Franks, presented as the "soldier's soldier," is a powerful, impressive presence. A fabulous book by a supremely talented writer. Again, interpretations will vary but most readers will, at the very least, be more informed about current events relative to the Iraqi war than ever before.
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Summary: Woodward and Davie both offer insightful assessments
Review: Woodward's latest offering is far superior to his Bush At War as enough time has passed since 911 to allow for greater clarity of thought and scrutiny.
One disappointment: Woodward makes much of the repeated assertions of Bush that the president places a great deal of importance on liberating other peoples. In this regard, Woodward could and should have made the point that Bush really doesn't have any choice at this stage. Bush has to promote liberation as justification for war because all of his original reasons are bogus: Iraq never did present any immediate or major threat to America; there were no weapons of mass destruction; there was no hindering of access by weapons inspectors; and there was no real connection with the terrorists who brought us 911. So what has Bush got left? Just one thing: He now loves Iraqis so much he's willing to risk thousands of lives to free them. That's what this war is all about now. It's a noble fight for freedom and everybody - except the people of Iraq - know this. Yeah... right.
That said, Woodward does at least try to get Bush to account for his actions. Another very good book well worth a read is Bushwhacked by Michael B. Davie. Bushwhacked (ISBN: 0973195614) takes a no-holds-barred look at the unilateral Bush approach to international politics. Davie provides a detailed and balanced assessment of Bush's unstatesmanlike, selfish approach to politics, including the impact of what he does and more importantly, the reasons WHY he makes the wrong decisions again and again. Read both books to get insider (Woodward) and outsider (Davie) perspectives on how other interests have come to override the War on Terrorism.
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