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Amazon.co.uk Review
Woodward's analysis of President Bush's leadership style is especially fascinating. A self-described "gut player" who relies heavily on instinct, Bush comes across as a man of action continually pressing his cabinet for concrete results. The revelation that the president developed and publicly stated the so-called Bush Doctrine--the policy that the US would not only go after terrorists everywhere but also those governments or groups that harbour them--without first consulting Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell or Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is particularly telling. Other principals are examined with equal scrutiny. Though National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice emerges as soft-spoken and even tentative during group meetings, it becomes clear that Bush is dependent on her for candid advice as well as for conveying his thoughts to his cabinet. The relationship between Powell and Rumsfeld (and to a lesser degree Powell and Cheney) is often strained, exposing their differences regarding how to deal with Iraq and whether coalition building or unilateralism is most appropriate. Woodward also describes how CIA director George Tenet prepared a paramilitary team to infiltrate Afghanistan to set the groundwork for invasion, and how this ushered in a new era of cooperation between the defence department and the CIA. A worthwhile and often enlightening read, this is a revealing and informative first draft of the Bush legacy. --Shawn Carkonen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Robert, McCrum, Observer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An unbias insight into the Bush administration,
This review is from: Bush at War (Bush at War Part 1) (Paperback)
This book is almost like a diary of the day to day events leading upto and during the Afghanistan War (not the current Iraq war). It is very informative and the author obviously had close contact with the Bush administration. Don't expect it to be written like an expose - it is not written in a controversial manner, instead it invites the reader to draw their own conclusions. It is about as unbias as you're going to get in any review of Bush's whitehouse. The book also discusses Bush's senior advisors, the role they played and their relationships with one another and Bush - especially interesting in light of Powell's recent resignation. A truly informative and throughly well researched book. However, the book sometimes gets bogged down in a 'he said this and then she said that' type of narrative. Recommended to those who want an insight into the Afghanistan conflict but not for those who want discussion on the reasons for and against the conflict.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, absorbing account,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bush at War (Bush at War Part 1) (Paperback)
Bob Woodward has made a name for himself over the years as the reporter who gets the inside track - the toppling of Nixon, in the 1990s some great insight into the Clinton White House, and now two books which give very considerable detail into the decision processes employed by George W Bush. Whilst the later book "Plan of Attack" analyses the steps leading to the 2003 Iraq war, its sister account "Bush at War" details the efforts taken after 9/11 to deal with international terror. As ever with a Woodward book, the pace of the narrative is fast, like a gripping novel in many places, and his access to detailed intelligence (including some classified material) is top-notch. I really liked this book and would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary politics/history, but I do have two fairly minor gripes (which make it a 4 star rating rather than 5). One, I dislike Woodward's occasional use of profanity in the text - and I don't mean in reported speech, where it's fine by me, but in the narrative where Woodward uses it himself, for emphasis. It's unnecessary - English is a rich enough language, and Woodward an intelligent enough man, not to require the book to be drawn down to the level of a barroom rant. Two, the description in the book of the NYPD deputy chief Charles "Chuck" Zito lacks depth and could have been drawn out a little. Zito took a leading role in the 9/11 investigation and his trip to LA to piece together information about the hijackings could have been more detailed in the book, particularly in respect of his contacts with the thinker and writer Fintan O. Kennedy, which have been excellently documented elsewhere. Those minor quibbles aside, however, this is a great book which is well worth a read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A failure of imagination,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bush at War (Bush at War Part 1) (Paperback)
There are some real gems in this book such as George Tenet's comment just minutes after he heard about the attacks on the Twin Towers. "I wonder if it has anything to do with this guy taking pilot training," referring to Zacarias Moussaoui. I know hindsight can be misleading but that sounds very bad. Woodward's sources are impeccable and the narrative is engrossing.What it does illustrates is how much both Bush and the American people were let down by the institutional incompetence of numerous agencies. Tenet's advice to Bush in the following book by Woodward, 'Plan of Attack'. simply illustrates just how useless Tenet was. After Bush questioned the CIA evidence of Saddam's WMD capabilities in terms of, "I don't imagine Joe Public being impressed by this evidence." Tenet replied, "Mr President, it's a slam dunk." OOOpps! Bush comes out of both of these books relatively well. Some have suggested that the incredible accesss which Woodward was afforded to the President and his National Security Team may have compromised his journalistic integrity. What utter nonsense! The man who helped bring down Richard Nixon is certainly the best person possible to chronicle this extraordinary period in American history. If Woodward is a Republican then I'm a Banana.
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