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Bob Woodward

State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III Hardcover – September 30, 2006

by Bob Woodward (Author)

379 ratings

Book 3 of 4: Bush at War

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"Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year.'' This was the secret Pentagon assessment sent to the White House in May 2006. The forecast of a more violent 2007 in Iraq contradicted the repeated optimistic statements of President Bush, including one, two days earlier, when he said we were at a ''turning point" that history would mark as the time "the forces of terror began their long retreat." State of Denial examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves. Two days after the May report, the Pentagon told Congress, in a report required by law, that the "appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007." In this detailed inside story of a war-torn White House, Bob Woodward reveals how White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, with the indirect support of other high officials, tried for 18 months to get Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replaced. The president and Vice President Cheney refused. At the beginning of Bush's second term, Stephen Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser, gave the administration a 'D minus' on implementing its policies. A secret report to the new Secretary of State Rice from her counselor stated that, nearly two years after the invasion, Iraq was a "failed state." The book reveals that at the urging of Cheney and Rumsfeld, the most frequent outside visitor and Iraq adviser to President Bush is former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who, haunted still by the loss in Vietnam, emerges as a hidden and potent voice. Woodward reveals that the secretary of defense himself believes that the system of coordination among departments and agencies is broken, and in a secret May 1, 2006 memo Rumsfeld stated, that "the current system of government makes competence next to impossible." State of Denial answers the core questions: What happened after the invasion of Iraq? Why? How does Bush make decisions and manage a war that he chose to define his presidency? And is there an achievable plan for victory?

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

September 30, 2006
Dimensions

6.6 x 9.5 x 1.7 inches
ISBN-10

0743272234
ISBN-13

978-0743272230
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. If there ever was a crystalline indictment of a president's wartime decisions, this is it. In the third volume exploring the political carnage and bureaucratic infighting prompted by the September 11 attacks, legendary investigative journalist Woodward (Bush at War, Plan of Attack) dissects the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq. The picture isn't a pretty one, and Woodward's disarming, matter-of-fact prose makes his page-turning account more powerful still. The incompetence and arrogance on display in the highest levels of the executive branch is as stunning-and as unsettling-as the dismay voiced by civilians and soldiers who endeavor and fail to open the administration's eyes to the failures in Iraq, from the complex security challenges to simple logistical matters like securing sufficient translators. Unable to manage the war they unleashed, the principals-President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and national security advisor, later Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice-fare poorly here. Many of the charges are familiar-the president lacks inquisitiveness, the vice president is obsessed with WMD, Rice is "the worst security advisor in modern times"-but gel anew in the light of Woodward's explication. The breakout star of this disturbing spectacle is Rumsfeld, who presides over the conflict with a supreme self confidence that literally leaves Woodward at a loss for words. If journalism is the first page of history, then Woodward's opus will be required reading for any would-be historians of the time.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"State of Denial feels all the more outraged for its measured, nonpartisan tones and relentless reporting. It is nothing less than a watershed.... The full story of the Iraq War will be told by historians....This book...will be at the top of their shelves as they proceed to the altar of judgment."

-- Ted Widmer, The Washington Post Book World

"Serious, densely, even exhaustively reported, and a real contribution to history in that it gives history what it most requires, first-person testimony....This is a primer on how the executive branch of the United States works, or rather doesn't work, in the early years of the 21st century."

-- Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal

"Never-before-reported nuggets in every chapter....It offers the most revealing in-the-room glimpse of the Bush administration that we have so far."

-- Walter Shapiro, Salon.com

"State of Denial is brimming with vivid details about White House meetings, critical phone calls, intelligence reports, and military affairs....Impressively detailed and eye-opening revelations about the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and its aftermath."

-- Chuck Leddy, The Boston Globe

"Woodward's book is packed with details about the gulf between the information the administration had and the picture it presented."

-- USA Today

"Woodward's trilogy on the Bush administration at war is essential, and compelling, reading."

--Foreign Affairs

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (September 30, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743272234
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743272230
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.75 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 9.5 x 1.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #831,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #935 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #1,436 in National & International Security (Books)
- #1,701 in United States Executive Government

Customer Reviews:
379 ratings

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5 star		63%
4 star		20%
3 star		14%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Peter

History will decide

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2018

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Bob Woodward's books are exceptionally good at providing a highly readable account of White House events and in this book, we see another example of his fine work.

Woodward wrote 4 books on the Bush Presidency and this is Book 3. It is a damning assessment of the invasion of Iraq and the inability of the President and his most senior staff to be able to work out a way to stabilise the country and leave gracefully.

On almost every page, there is information on infighting amongst the senior leaders and mistakes being made in Iraq that are leading to injuries and death.

It would appear from reading this book that the White House was lost in what to do with Iraq, it was just such a massive undertaking to replace Saddam Hussein with a new democratic government that took into account the various religions and needs of the people.

To me, Woodward's books are the best political books I have ever read.

3 people found this helpful

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J. D Morrow

Living in a state of denial: Is having a strategy a "new strategy"?

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2007

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On January 10, 2007 George W. Bush announced a change in US policy regarding Iraq. He called the slight increase in US military personnel a "new strategy" and a "surge." There was to be a new system in Iraq developed on the "clear, hold, build" model. The US was going to try to win the war and show the world is was going to stand up to the insurgents and terrorists.

How was this actually a new strategy? Bob Woodward clearly delineates that it is a radical change in strategy. Prior to that point there was no strategy. Ground Commanders sought to help the Iraqis in their specific areas; theater commanders thought in terms of global issues; the NSC was kept out of the loop by the Secretary of Defense who reminded everybody again and again that he was in the chain of command they were not; the SecDef then ignored his own position in the chain of command when it might look bad on him; and, finally, the President and his War Cabinet refused to accept that the war was going poorly. They were in a "state of denial."

George Bush's denial is a bit frightening. While not in the book I recall him bragging in the '04 debates that he thought about the war "every single day!" Like I am supposed to be impressed with that. The President is the commander-in-chief and declared himself in Woodward's Plan of Attack as a "wartime President." In this work the President's style of deferring again and again to the SecDef and his commanders shows how hands off he his and how he cannot know what's going on without delving into specifics. While some can be faulted for delving too much (read- Jimmy Carter), to ignore facts is what Woodward describes as a State of Denial.

While George W. Bush may be the second worst President in recent memory, he is not the antagonist of this work. Donald Rumsfeld fits the classic mold of "all the power, none of the responsibility." He could easily be confused with my old boss who once told me I'd been filling out a form wrong "for years." (A form she would not let me send without her prior review and approval.) Rumsfeld spoke of being the top man and being in the chain of command and then deferring to his generals. He opening declares at the end of the book that he is not a military commander! He says the choice to go in with so few troops was not his choice but General Franks!

While this is terrible and horrible and not only bad for business but killing tons of young Americans and innocent Iraqis, it is not what I found the worst of things. During Hurricane Katrina, the President had his chief of staff, Andy Card, call Rumsfeld to call out the Louisiana National Guard. This was in the early morning. Rumsfeld refused, using the excuse of chain of command. Apparently in this instance only the President could ask him to do that. The President only was able to handle this by mid afternoon. The fact of the matter is that not only did Rumsfeld care not for the lives of innocent Iraqis or even American troops (sending them to the theatre without proper equipment or mission) he callously ignored the pleas of American civilians trapped in the sinking Mississippi Delta.

Andy Card, Jay Garner and David Kay all come out looking like the heroes of this book. They saw missions and goals going wrong and attempted to facilitate a change: Card through interoffice diplomacy, Garner through the chain of command (guess where that broke down) and Kay through straight talk to both Congress and the President.

Yet the President and his War Cabinet again and again refused to accept the facts as shown by reports and judgments of independent staff. Thus, it created a complete mess. It was a mess without a strategy for victory or for withdrawal. Thus, the surge is a new strategy, because anything is different than nothing.

I give this work only four stars out of five, but still place it in MUST READ!

4 people found this helpful

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Barney Considine

State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2009

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How quickly history moves sometimes. As I write this review, George W. Bush has been out of office just past one hundred days. Already, the war in Iraq is quickly fading from the front pages. The arguments have gone from whether or not to withdraw troops to whether or not to prosecute some of the people involved in the conduct of "the war on terror."

Like Bob Woodward's former books on Bush and the war, this makes excellent reading. It is as free from bias as anyone could write in the circumstances. Everyone has a different take on what went right and what went wrong regarding Iraq. How readers see this book will be greatly influenced by the viewpoint they bring to the table.

That said, unless you are firmly set far to one side or the other of the subject, this book will surprise you. If you expect it to "bash Bush," it does not. Nor does it excuse him. Bush comes across as ill prepared for the job of leading. He bowed to the judgment of others and then made the mistake of defending the direction they took him. Admittedly, you won't find many "good guys" in this story and unless you have been a student of the war, you may not recognize the names of those cast in the most favorable light. Those with well-publicized names do not come off very well. In fact, people are so familiar with the names of those players that I am going to dispense with their first names.

Rumsfeld and the officers who served as Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs during the Bush administration come across as misleading the President, obstructing any efforts to change the direction Rumsfeld took the Pentagon, and failing to admit mistakes made. Chaney appears as a mysterious figure who wielded great power until late in Bush's second term. He seemed to lose that grip on things when "Scooter" Libby, his second in command, was indicted in the CIA leak case. Others in the administration - Rove and Wolfowitz for example - had their own agendas which Bush and Chaney often followed without anyone acting as a check on their influence.

Rice and Powell are special cases that come across with both high marks and serious negatives. Powell and his close associate Richard Armitage are credited with having a clearer vision of world affairs than other advisors to the President. Unfortunately, their advice was too often ignored or overruled. In the case of Powell, he acquiesced too easily in decisions that he sincerely doubted.

Anyone questioning the intelligence of the people who make it into the top echelons in our government is making a mistake. However, Rice's knowledge and skill stand out. She understood the workings of the government and the roles she played better than most. She was a loyal lieutenant to the President and during his first term was both an access point and conduit by which to reach the President. As National Security Advisor to the President, she wielded considerable additional power. In fact, she was such a key player that it spread her energies pretty thin while also threatening to compromise her role of palace guard. This changed after she became Secretary of State and she served the country well in that role despite whatever baggage she may have been carrying from Bush's first term.

Two other players are mentioned throughout the book but their influence on the President is unclear. The former President, George H. W. Bush, deliberately avoided having undue influence or conflict with his son. He was a loyal supporter as a father, but not an advisor. The second person is Prince Bandar bin Sultan, longtime Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States and a longtime friend of the Bush family. He advised George W. Bush during the campaign for his first term. Both then and throughout the two terms of the second Bush administration, Bandar provided the President insight into the Arab world, as well as Saudi policy.

There are a multitude of other players from the Administration, the Pentagon, Iraq, Congress, and from outside of government. Woodward is adept at trying to keep the players straight. He fails only occasionally as the story shifts between locations, times, and centers of power. Overall, this is an excellent journalistic effort. When released, it was good reading on current events. Now, it is still that but is rapidly becoming good history as well. It is, of course, only a beginning of that history. New revelations about the Bush administration and the Iraq war are surfacing at an ever increasing rate. One wonders if Woodward will write a Part IV of his series. Undoubtedly, many others will write their own versions.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Mairead ryan

Read this Bok and weep about your government

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2013

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Gives us a great insight into the dysfunctionality of Whitehouse relationships and how they contributed to the utter mess that was being played out in Iraq at the time. Condoleza Rice comes out of the mess looking like she learned something and probably wishes she had never left academia. Not to have provided the military personnel on the ground with interpreters was criminal in itself and demonstrates the contempt with which the Iraqi's were treated. Imagine having your home searched by people who cant communicate with you or understand what you are trying to tell them. " Man has been to the moon but that is nowhere in terms of how much he needs to learn about himself" to misquote Anais Nin.

Agapito

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2017

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Well written. Interesting.

Amazon Customer

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2017

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It is as good as new. Delivered without delay

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2016

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Perfect

E. Hoef

Woodward "oublie" de parler de l'organisation mercenaire "Blackwater"

Reviewed in France on January 31, 2009

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Comme beaucoup de journalistes/politologues ou historiens américain Bob ward "occulte" complètementl'organisation mercenaire "Blackwater" qui travaille pour le compte des USA. Qui sont imunisés à 100° de toute poursuite pour actes illicites ou crimes de guerre! Pas un mot non plus de l'influence des lobby's israeliens aux états-unis.

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