Book: Buy Bush at War Online

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Of all of America's flies on the wall, Bob Woodward may be our most prolific. The dust jacket of my copy of "Bush At War" informs me that Woodward has authored or co-authored no less than nine nationally best selling books, all offering an inside look at some aspect of America. The dust jacket also tells me that Woodward has picked up steam of late, writing the majority of his books in the last 10 years. In "Bush At War," the strain from this increase in pace is showing.

The most important part of any of Woodward's books is the access engendered by his "uber-insider" status. Whenever you choose to read Woodward you can be sure the inner workings behind the headlines will be made completely clear to you. It is precisely this fact that makes "Bush At War" a worthwhile read, as we all know what happened on September 11, 2001, but few of us know what occurred behind the scenes in the months that followed.

The facts are thus: on 9/11 2001 terrorist attacks perpetrated against the United States by elements of the al Queda terrorist network sparked a war in Afghanistan that eventually toppled the Taliban regime and scattered al Queda's troops and operations. Surprisingly, most Americans know little else about these events. How did the United States mobilize for war against Afghanistan (and so quickly)? What steps were necessary to thoroughly infiltrate a country that had withstood powerful invaders in the past? How did the U.S. quickly accumulate allies in a hostile region of the world? How did the Bush administration create its national message for the new War on Terrorism? Was the war in Afghanistan really as quick and easy as it seemed? Of course, at 352 pages "Bush At War" is far too short of a book to answer all of these questions conclusively, but Woodward does an excellent job of posing answers to these questions and fills a large gap in the historical record post 9/11.

It is clear in "Bush At War" that Woodward is more of a reporter than an author; the book's main liability is Woodward's storytelling. The only character that is even partially developed is that of George W. Bush (as one would hope he would be in a book bearing his name in its title). Woodward depicts Bush as a man who understands quite well that he is in command, and as a straight shooter who trusts his gut feeling, makes snap decisions, and is determined that, after the debate has ended, his staff support the decision with unanimity. We also see Bush as a person clearly enraged after the terrorist attacks, as someone who was moved to tears by grieving New Yorkers, and as someone who takes the new war very personally (so much that he keeps his own private scorecard of deceased terrorists).

The other primaries, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice, are given, at most, a page or two of exposition which they are then defined by for the rest of the book. This lack of characterization does not make the book very interesting on a humanistic basis, but it is sufficient from a reporter's point of view; i.e. we see that Powell and Rice eventually came to temper Rumsfeld and Cheney's war-mongering, and it was clear where each comes down in the numerous meetings and debates detailed in "Bush At War."

And that is a good thing because "Bush At War" is not so much a narrative as a seemingly endless string of meetings. At first these meetings are interesting and enlightening, but soon the positions of each of the players and the main points of discussion are established and then the action moves slowly. For each plot point that is painstakingly uncovered we must read through pages and pages of "we need to get basing rights from the Pakistanis," "so what are our options," "we need boots on the ground," "we flew 90 sorties today," "we need humanitarian drops," and "he's talking with the Northern Alliance." Yes, these details are important and should be included, but there is no reason to reiterate them time and time again. The insider's look at what really went on behind closed doors is certainly interesting and, I believe, important, but only perhaps the first five times we hear it. In writing "Bush At War" Woodward should have used far more discretion, substituting narration for pages and pages of unnecessary meetings (they are all there in the public archives for anyone to see). The book continually bogs down and it is only with extreme lethargy that we wade through each event in the war. As it is the book is more a mass of quotations than a coherent narrative.

The other problem I have with this book is the ending. Without giving too much away I can say that the book ends abruptly, and at a point which, far from being a natural endpoint, abounds with. questions and a need for resolution. It seems unnecessarily arbitrary that Woodward chose to end the book at this point. There is an epilogue which, though it does not fit on too well, reads better than most of the rest of the book and makes me wonder why Woodward didn't write all of "Bust At War" with such skill.

As it is, "Bush At War" is a book that anyone interested in politics (especially that of the current administration) will devour. Unfortunately the storytelling abilities of its author do not live up to the great potential of telling the story of the Bush administration at war post 9/11. Still, I recommend it as a unique, and important, look at Bush at war.

In all, it is a great book and gives a good look into the administration of one of the most popular presidents of all time.

What struck me most was how much of the message we heard immediately post 911 was crafted by Bush himself (and while I'm not a Bush fan, I was favorably impressed). The process by which this group went through to make their critical decisions was fascinating to follow--the book provides a critical insight to how government works at the highest levels, and how dependent we are on the judgement of the people who sit around the table.
Rice looks like the heroine/dutiful servant; Powell comes off looking challenged by internal politics (but he perseveres) ; Rumsfeld looks weaker than I would have expected--much less creative that I would have thought. There's not all that much about Cheney since he has been sequestered in an undisclosed location (at his own suggestion!), but he made critical contributions. I personally wish Powell had a stronger voice to counter the Cheney/Rumsfield chants. The book will give you some flavor for the internal politics on the team, and how they play out.

Watching our current state of affairs (buildup to war with Iraq), I wish I still had a listening post about the decisions being made...and hope Woodward will return with another sequel soon.