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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Woodward at his Most Critical,
By Woodward had several targets in this book. The first one is George W. Bush, who is characterized as being satisfied with the direction of foreign affairs and plays the role of cheerleader. Throughout the book I grew more anxious about whether anybody can truly communicate with Bush. One would hope the president listens to advisors, experts in different matters, as nobody knows everything and we all rely on others in this way. There just didn't seem to be evidence that Bush listens to others, although we can't know without being able to observe Bush in person. The second target is Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld seems to be very smart, self-confident and hard-working. He also is clearly a micromanager. Micromanaging the Pentagon is an impossible thing to do. It's too large and diverse. What went lacking is focused management of the war. This was extremely unfair to the volunteer troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I kept wishing if only the late Colonel David Hackworth could be put into the mix of war leaders. Hackworth was famous for being a great warrior, leader and having utmost concern for the fighting troops. There are several third echelon targets. An interesting one is Condoleezza Rice. Rice also worked hard as did Rumsfeld. The work ethic and the brains were there. But being George Bush's friend was apparently more important to Rice than playing the role of National Security Advisor, leaving the country with nobody identifiable to give unpopular advice to the president. I felt the tragedy here yet we have to acknowledge that many countries have a nepotism system that precludes the kind of checks and balances that we used to take for granted. I felt that Rice could have been working in her capacity for a country with a dictatorship. Still, I have to allow the possibly that the greater tragedy put me in this frame of mind. It occurred to me that Woodward has quite a staff. I can't imagine one man producing this set of books all by himself. There is simply too much research for one journalist to do solo. I'm glad also to live in a country where critical expressions such as this are possible.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Politicos Get over it ! WAKE UP !!,
By i-Palikar "i-Palikar" (ALEXANDRIA, VA USA) - See all my reviews Read the ugly facts! There are by now way too many professionals who were there or were involved - all of whom agree that the early years of the Iraq War (2003 - 2006) were NOT the finest hour for the US ! All of whom agree that the civilian leadership of Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Bremer in the Iraq war was indeed an exercise in sheer incompetence. Decision-makers were blinded by ideology, constantly changing plans, and unable to see much less admit the massive error of their ways. The public was fooled for a time thinking it was a failure on the part of our generals. Yet, instead the public finally found out through Woodward, et al, that is was an utter failure of leadership by our civilian decision-makers. It was a ugly case of the blind leading the hogtied/handcuffed. Significant time has past since the publication of Woodward book's, and time reveals that the truth of history does not bode well for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld Wolfowitz, and Bremer, et al - on how badly they mismanaged the Iraq War. What Bob Woodward provided us is small but very potent glimpse into the start of history's unfailing critical review as time marches into eternity. Prudent retrospect has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the Iraq War was horribly mismanaged because the chief US policy-makers (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz - all devoid of any significant military experience) utterly failed to heed the sage advice from those with vast military experience. As the saying goes about General Shinseki -"Rick was right!"...Well, they can also say the same about many others who attempted to provide Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, et al, with time-tested and results-proven military advice - but these experienced warriors were sadly ignored and brushed aside. To those who prefer to hide behind mere political-based logic - WAKE UP ! There is no longer any denying that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, et al - badly mismanaged this war to the Nth degree ! Get over it! When the war effort nearly collapsed back in 2006, Bush was forced to do something to do something vastly different because the realities of an ignominious US defeat were knocking loudly at his doorstep. Query: Why fix it if it wasn't broken? The cold, hard facts of proof are the foundation behind Petraeus and his vastly different style of prosecuting this war - the foundations of which many experienced DOD advisors ascribed to back in 2002. There are those of us hardcore conservatives with considerable military experience who realize the sad truth about how horribly Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Bremer mismanaged this war. The early years of the Iraq War (2003 - 2006) are fast becoming another classic US case study on how to mismanage a war. Yet, it remains a never-ending amazement how the overwhelming majority of Bush-politicos slip into a 'state of denial' and defy reality in such convoluted ways {i.e. those who defend Bush, et al, at all costs (even their lies) and harshly criticize every Bush-dissenter as red-baited}...well such politicos are monolithic thinkers who simply cannot separate the loony liberals from those who are actually experienced in military matters - and know what to criticize in such matters. (They probably believed in a 1950s-60s monolithic Communist block and the Domino Theory too !} Such politicos wouldn't understand the likes of Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Montecuccoli, Mao, Boyd, or any other military philosopher - much less have read them. They have no idea that, with millenniums long past, Thucydides is still highly relevant to understanding war. They are ignorant on the vast amount of the sage advice from these military philosophers that was totally ignored by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, et al. Those who consistently use political-based logic to defend Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Bremer, et al, against all criticism on their prosecution of the Iraq war...Well, such politicos are little more than incompetent armchair generals - as were Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. There are indeed many positive things to say about Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Bremer - but the prosecution of the Iraq War is not among them. Hard-line politicos - Get over it ! Stop being blinded by political ideology !! WAKE UP !!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Woodward at his Most Critical,
By
This review is from: State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III (Paperback)
State of Denial, Bush at War, Part III is the hardest-hitting in the series. Woodward, apparently feeling he used up his access to the Administration (but he regained access later after the Surge proved to be effective), let's loose with his indictment of President Bush.
Woodward had several targets in this book. The first one is George W. Bush, who is characterized as being satisfied with the direction of foreign affairs and plays the role of cheerleader. Throughout the book I grew more anxious about whether anybody can truly communicate with Bush. One would hope the president listens to advisors, experts in different matters, as nobody knows everything and we all rely on others in this way. There just didn't seem to be evidence that Bush listens to others, although we can't know without being able to observe Bush in person. The second target is Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld seems to be very smart, self-confident and hard-working. He also is clearly a micromanager. Micromanaging the Pentagon is an impossible thing to do. It's too large and diverse. What went lacking is focused management of the war. This was extremely unfair to the volunteer troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I kept wishing if only the late Colonel David Hackworth could be put into the mix of war leaders. Hackworth was famous for being a great warrior, leader and having utmost concern for the fighting troops. There are several third echelon targets. An interesting one is Condoleezza Rice. Rice also worked hard as did Rumsfeld. The work ethic and the brains were there. But being George Bush's friend was apparently more important to Rice than playing the role of National Security Advisor, leaving the country with nobody identifiable to give unpopular advice to the president. I felt the tragedy here yet we have to acknowledge that many countries have a nepotism system that precludes the kind of checks and balances that we used to take for granted. I felt that Rice could have been working in her capacity for a country with a dictatorship. Still, I have to allow the possibly that the greater tragedy put me in this frame of mind. It occurred to me that Woodward has quite a staff. I can't imagine one man producing this set of books all by himself. There is simply too much research for one journalist to do solo. I'm glad also to live in a country where critical expressions such as this are possible.
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