Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (Hardcover)

by Michael Isikoff (Author), David Corn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post
In October 2002, a file of documents from the U.S. embassy in Rome arrived on the desk of one of the State Department's senior nuclear proliferation analysts. The papers had been handed over by an Italian journalist, who had been given them by an informer who had, in turn, obtained them from a mysterious source in the embassy of Niger. The documents purported to show that Niger had signed a July 2000 deal to supply Iraq with 500 tons of yellowcake uranium -- about one-sixth of the African country's annual production and a key ingredient in a uranium-enrichment process that could provide Saddam Hussein's regime with a nuclear bomb.

As Simon Dodge of the State Department's intelligence bureau began to review the documents in Washington, he soon concluded that they were fakes. One of the papers described a secret meeting in Rome at which representatives of Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Pakistan formed a joint "plan of action" to defend themselves against the West in alliance with "Islamic patriots accused of belonging to criminal organizations." Dodge later told Senate investigators that he considered the claim "completely implausible," or, as Michael Isikoff and David Corn put it, "something out of James Bond -- or maybe Austin Powers." Niger embassy stamps, palpably fake, linked the "plan of action" document to those depicting the Iraq deal. The papers are a hoax, Dodge e-mailed colleagues.

This was not what most in the White House wanted to hear. By October 2002, when Dodge began examining the Niger documents, the Bush administration was already accelerating its drive for war against Iraq. An authoritative demolition of one of the most dramatic parts of that case -- that Baghdad was building a nuclear weapon -- was deeply unwelcome and, coming from the diplomats at the State Department, viewed with particular suspicion by Vice President Cheney's office. Partly by accident (the CIA merely put its copy of the "obviously forged" Rome papers in a vault and left them there) and partly because it simply did not want to know, the White House remained in denial about the unreliability of the whole Niger uranium story. Fatefully, the president would use the claim in his State of the Union address in January 2003. It was the principal basis for the administration's repeated rhetorical flourish that the Iraqi smoking gun might "come in the form of a mushroom cloud." And it was a phony.

The Niger claim provides the central thread in Hubris, Isikoff and Corn's exhaustive reconstruction of the formulation and selling of the Iraq War. For those who wish to understand how one of the most powerful officials in the land -- Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- came to be under indictment for obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements arising out of the Niger story, this book is indispensable.

But Niger was not the only proffered justification for the attack on Iraq that eventually crumbled to dust in the light of day. So did the false claims of Iraqi defectors, such as the shadowy informant known as "Curveball," that Iraq possessed mobile biological laboratories, a claim that was a centerpiece of then-secretary of state Colin Powell's U.N. presentation in February 2003. So did the misguided conviction that Iraq's purchase of aluminum tubes was proof of a nuclear-arms program. So did the long-disproved claim that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence agents in Prague in April 2001, which became almost an article of faith for the administration's hawks.

There have been many books about the Iraq war, and there will be many others before we are through. This one, however, pulls together with unusually shocking clarity the multiple failures of process and statecraft that led so many people to persuade themselves that the evidence pointed to an active Iraqi program to develop weapons of mass destruction and that it was in the interests of the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

This is seemingly an eternal theme. The deeper we are drawn into Isikoff and Corn's account, the more we enter March of Folly territory. When the late Barbara W. Tuchman published her masterly 1984 account of the ruinous policies that governments have pursued through the ages, she ranged across a canvas stretching from the Trojan war to Vietnam.

To qualify as folly, Tuchman wrote, a policy must meet three criteria: It must have been seen at the time as counterproductive; a feasible alternative course of action must have been available; and the policy must have been that of a group of people, not merely a single tyrant or ruler. If ever a policy qualifies on all counts, it was the U.S.-imposed regime change in Iraq. Isikoff and Corn are reporters (for Newsweek and the Nation, respectively), not historians, but they still compel the reader to confront a further, essential dimension of folly's march. In each case -- the Niger uranium papers, the mobile labs, the aluminum tubes, the Atta-Iraq link -- there were people up and down the policy chain, including some at the very top, who either knew at the time or should have known that the claims were false or unreliable.

Many critics of the Iraq War have highlighted the ideological drive behind the invasion. Fewer have grappled with the more complex question of why it was impossible for skeptics, doubters and more scrupulous analysts to stop it. Isikoff and Corn enable us to understand better how this devastating policy tragedy played out. But as Coleridge once observed, the light of experience is but a lantern on the stern, illuminating only the waters through which we have passed. Sadly, Isikoff and Corn can't tell the next generation how to avoid such tragedies.

Reviewed by Martin Kettle
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review
"Indispensable ... There have been many books about the Iraq War, and there will be many others before we are through. This one, however, pulls together with unusually shocking clarity the multiple failures of process and statecraft."
—WASHINGTON POST

"The most comprehensive account of the White House's political machinations ... fascinating reading."
—THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"A bold and provocative book."
—TOM BROKAW


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Crown (September 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307346811
• ISBN-13: 978-0307346810
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #283,564 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

363 of 382 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, But Enough Good Stuff to Warrant Reading, September 15, 2006

By	Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Having read most of the books on Iraq (see my lists), I was disappointed to find that this is, at 463 pages, a bloated 150 page story blown to excess with double-spacing.

There are enough useful bits to warrant reading, but over a third of the book focuses on the Valerie Plume leak and investigation. The book is not as good as James Risen's State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration or Jim Bamford's A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies.


Solid points that cause me to value the book:

1) Discussion of Libby-Wolfowitz kindred spirits

2) Raises the bar with a solid discussion of how the Bush regime presented a case for war that "turned out to be, in virtually every aspect, fraudulent."

3) Sheds new light on Iraq as a Karl Rove gambit for winning the next election.

4) For the first time that I have seen, a good discussion of how the public was NOT buying the Iraq story line, and how this pushed the Bush regime over the top in terms of fabrications and embellishments.

5) Good discussion of how CIA under Tenet cut Departments of State and Energy out on key transmittals to the White House. At the same time, somewhat rehabilitates Tenet by discussing how Tenet did not lie to Senator Biden, and in direct answer to a question about what technical intelligence CIA might have about WMD in Iraq, said, quite clearly, "None."

6) Adds understanding of Chalabi's dishonesty. In my view, Chalabi should never again be allowed to enter the USA.

7) Useful insights into James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence, as part of the problem. Woolsey helped promote Chalabi and his fraudulent defectors, and Woolsey was directed by Wolfowitz on a special mission to ramp up the Brits.

8) Excellent insights into Judith Miller's "fast and loose" journalism and her propensity to get "too close" to sources, and at the same time, tars the NYT leadership with being as ideologically corrupt and rigid as the White House.

9) New documentation of how the British clearly understood that the US was "fixing" intelligence around a pre-determined policy.

10) In passing, adds insight to the hypocrisy of the Bush regime pressing on Iraq while ignoring the other 44 dictators (see my review of Ambassador Palmer's excellent book, Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025.

11) Adds useful insight to the Italians falling prey to a financial scam on the Niger documents that were forged.

12) Labels the Vice President as "disingenuous" at best. EDIT OF 10 Dec 07: We know knowthe Vice President is a nakedly amoral person and a war criminal as well as impeachable for 25 high crimes and misdemeanors. See my reviews of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency and The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11.

13) Good discussion of how it was Doug Feith's unit that created false intelligence about Iraq having ties to Al Qaeda.

14) Although not really a great book on the intelligence side of the house, does do well in documenting that CIA knew well in advance of the war that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and also provides good discussion of how CIA bent with the wind, self-censored, and lost its integrity.

15) First mention I have seen of the Situation Room in the White House adding a clock with Baghdad time as early at 1 October.

16) Clearly documents how the case for going to war against Iraq crumbled before the war, but was kept from the public and Congress.

17) Establishes Col Larry Wilkerson as an honorable intelligent man who critically examined CIA's "intelligence" and clearly saw that most of it was from Chalabi's INC and probably deceitful.

18) Clearly honors Army General Shinseki as being correct on needing 400,000 to do the job right, especially the transition, and clearly labels Wolfowitz an ignorant ideological cheater all too willing to lie to Congress and make promises he could not keep.

19) Ends with a solid discussion of how no one in the Bush regime has been held accountable to date for this massive litany of impeachable offenses. At a minimum, Secretary of Defense Rum self and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would appear to be richly deserving of early dismissal if not impeachment. Wolfowitz would appear to deserve banishment from government service, and certainly not be allowed to lead the World Bank.

This book is one of over 100 books inspired by the lies that led us to an elective war where political knaves prevented the U.S. Army from doing it right. General Tommy Franks is mentioned across nine pages; in the end, history will show, I believe, that the real failure of command was at the four-star level in the Pentagon and at US Central Command--we all expect politicians to lie, cheat, and steal; we expect more from our officers in uniform. They should have closed ranks, spoken up, and prevented our honorable men and women of the Armed Forces from being sent in harm's way for no good reason. I am reminded of Jim Webb's "Friendly Fire." I have always thought that an officer's first and foremost duty was to protect his or her troops from illegal orders and stupid orders by those further up in the chain of command. We failed. More US soldieres and private military contractors have died in Afghanistan and Iraq than were murdered on 9/11, and this deceitful White House has in addition created over 65,000 amputees and permanently disabled veterans whose lives have been shattered, not by combat, but by impeachable breaches of the public trust at all levels of the elected and politically appointed federal government, and by the failure of their flag officers to defend them from mendacious idiocy.

Sadly, Congress failed America as well, refusing to fulfill its Article 1 responsibilities. See 9wth reviews): Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It; Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches; and Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders.

152 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Presidential Hubris Continues to Unravel in a Forthright Account of the Road to Iraq, September 12, 2006

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Like a Russian nested doll, the recent wave of books explaining the details behind the current Iraqi conflict has represented a continuous extrication of a deepening mystery. There is something new and enlightening to be discovered with each new volume I read. This one is no exception. David Corn, the Washington editor of the Nation, and Newsweek's Michael Isikoff has written a blistering account of the behind-the-scenes personalities and decisions that have led to the 2003 Iraqi invasion. Their reporting roles are well known from the infamous Valerie Plame controversy, in which she was revealed to be working for the CIA.

Much of this has been covered in recent, strongly recommended books by the likes of George Packer ("The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq"), Ron Suskind ("The One Percent Doctrine") and Michael Scheuer ("Imperial Hubris"). Corn and Isikoff, however, shed new insights to previously reported events, disclose new facts such as Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's role in the CIA leak, and bring the pivotal figures to life, in particular, President Bush whose obsession with destroying Saddam Hussein was and continues to be the mantra by which he forced others to abide. Even as evidence has piled up to the tenuous connection between 9/11 and Hussein, he continues undeterred in his mission.

Another figure that comes alive on the pages is Colin Powell, who justifiably feels he was made the fall guy with his infamous UN Security Council speech urging other nations to support the US case for war by falsely accusing Hussein of harboring al-Qaeda and training terrorists. Yet, the most intriguing figures are unquestionably Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame. Wilson was sent to Niger in 2002 to investigate the possibility that Hussein had a deal to buy enriched uranium yellowcake, a perceived threat which he concluded was gravely overstated. As we all learned, Plame was instrumental in sending her husband because she turned out to be a CIA operative, a fact we learn was disclosed to journalist Robert Novak by Armitage. According to the co-authors, this led to vicious in-fighting to discredit the Wilsons, which included document forgeries about the findings from the Niger trip, doctored photos of supposed WMD sites in Iraq and recruiting Laurie Mylroie, an obscure researcher who was convinced that Hussein was the source for all terrorism.

Even though there was a lot of questioning from Congressional leaders on both sides throughout, there was very little resistance to challenge Bush, leading to false stories reported in the New York Times about the supposed presence of the WMDs. The labyrinth of deception is mind-boggling, yet Corn and Isikoff have done an impressive amount of fact-checking to substantiate their book. Even if you feel you've read every book on the culpability of the Bush administration, this one still manages to surprise and more importantly, puts a lot of the heretofore random pieces together into a cohesive account.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A difficult but rewarding read, September 15, 2006

By	Big Fish (West Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I not a professional journalist, politico or even a current events fanatic. However, I have been outraged for the past three years that my country in engaging in an unwarranted war. In my many business trips abroad, I have been asked by colleagues how we Americans can allow our president to start a war without good cause and overwheming popular support.

Well, "Hubris" is the perfect answer to their queries. This book has a large cast of characters which makes following the action a little bit difficult. But the authors have considerately included a list of such characters at the front of the book (much like many Russian novels).

What unfolds is a shockingly honest description of how Bush's maniacal obsession got us knee-deep into a war that no one wanted (including many top Republicans). The difficulty in reading this book is not related to the writing style or structure (both are great). Rather, it is due to the emotions stirred by the revelations in the book. Bush could have been thwarted (or at least slowed down) at many junctures. But the political greed governing most of Congress proved to be unrelentless.

I applaud the authors' willingness to tackle this subject. It's never easy to point the magnifying glass at oneself. But as a country, we definitely need more self-examinations like the one that this book offers. I can now return to my oversea trips with this book in hand and show my international friends that not all Americans were duped by Bush and his cronies.

Corn and Isikoff...well done!