Via the NYT: Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq
Mr. Woodward’s first two books about the Bush administration, “Bush at War” and “Plan of Attack,” portrayed a president firmly in command and a loyal, well-run team responding to a surprise attack and the retaliation that followed. As its title indicates, “State of Denial” follows a very different storyline, of an administration that seemed to have only a foggy notion that early military success in Iraq had given way to resentment of the occupiers.
The fact that Woodward’s first two books were considered basically positive vis-a-vis the administration will give this one more credibility. Further, the fact that Woodward was for the first two books given a great deal of acess to the principals probably means that he was for this one as well. This, too, will enhance the book’s credibility.
I will note that the thesis that the book appears to proffer, that the administration didn’t plan well for the aftermath of the war and that it did not take the difficulty seriously, echoes what Larry Diamond wrote in Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq .
The criticisms of Rumsfeld also mirror some of what Diamond had to say.
The book is already generating a number of headlines. To wit:
- WaPo: Card Urged Bush to Replace Rumsfeld, Woodward Says
- cbs4denver.com: Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq
- NY Daily News: Rummy blasted in book
- Via the AP: Iraqi violence is growing, author says
More, no doubt, to follow.
And sadly, I have not been offered a review copy…
Update: James Joyner points out: Woodward Scooped on Own Book.
October 1st, 2024 at 8:03 am
Bob Woodward’s Evolving Portrait of President Bush
cites a NYT review of Bob Woodward’s latest which begins thusly:
In Bob Woodward’s highly anticipated new book, “State of Denial,” President Bush emerges as a passive, impatient, sophomoric and intellectually incurious leader, presiding ov…