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Bob Woodward examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to the Congress, and often to themselves in State of Denial. Woodward's third book on President Bush is a sweeping narrative from the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president, through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the struggle for political survival in the second term.

State of Denial answers the core questions: What happened after the invasion of Iraq? Why? How does Bush make decisions and manage the war that he chose to define his presidency? And, is there an achievable plan for victory? After more than three decades of reporting on national security decision making, including his two #1 national bestsellers on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush at War and Plan of Attack, Woodward provides the fullest account, and explanation, of the road Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the White House staff have walked.

Average Customer Rating:

A passified criticism of the Bush administration

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Bob Woodward drew heavy criticism for his purported 'death bed' conversation with Bill Casey (which Casey's own wife denies.) Woodward deserves more criticsm for his patronizing "criticism" of the Bush administration's post-Iraq war failures. Woodward has long been held in high regard by the conservative elitists as he has long traded inside access for less-than-scathing stories about the corruption and ineptitude of our various political leaders. Very little within this book comes as "news," let alone as shocking as very little was reported that wasn't covered within the various 'evening news' programs. Furthermore, Woodward does little to corroborate the testimonies of the various interviewees (such as cite documents or statistical analysis.) Truth be told, there is a much more sinister story to be told and Woodward never attempted to broach such controversy, instead relaying on the well publicized and unobtrusive truth that was known the world over. I cannot fathom the beautification and brilliance that Woodward must have bestowed on the Bush White House in his previous accounts of the decision making of this embarrassment and dangerous power base. However, to his credit, most of those who are positioned to know may still have their informative hands bound behind their backs out of fear of violating their individual confidentiality contracts. Obviously, Bob Woodward mcuh prefers to maintain his inside connections rather than telling the American people the entire truth of the corruption that led to the 2003 Iraq war. I sought a truly insightful and informative book, instead, I read every passage feeling as though Bob Woodward is concerned more about his own status rather than telling the world of the truth within.

Straightforward blow-by-blow of starting the war in Iraq

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Bob Woodward does a good job of presenting a selection of the day-to-day functions of the Bush Administration in getting the US into Iraq, for good or ill. He doesn't present the reader with heroes or villains, nor does he draw any moral/ethical conclusions about any of the players. He does draw conclusions about what happened and why, but the conclusions are based on solid evidence and interviews, often with people whose names have seldom or never been in the news. The picture that materializes out of this book is of a chief executive who, once he was elected, really didn't know or care how anything got done, and who surrounded himself with other religious-right neoconservatives who were equally determined to do it. There are key points in the book where suggestions or decisions are made, or deceptions are presented as truth, and in most cases, Bush is not present. he just wasn't around. If the book has a protagonist, it is Donald Rumsfeld, who is determined to control every last detail of the War, and who is allowed, by a cowed and frightened bureaucracy, to get away with that, with the results we have before us now.

Bureaucratic Politics	Customer Rating:
This is an excellent study of how bureaucratic politics can deform the foreign policy process. You don't have to agree with Woodward's conclusions to benefit from this book.

Woodward tells it like it is.	Customer Rating:
Bob Woodward once again shows his ablity as a writer. His book is not partisan and clearly states the background regardin Bush' decision to take the country to war. It is easy to read and quite informaive regardless of your political ideology. I would highly recommend it to those who don't feel they get the facts from the newspapers or the Sunday morning tald shows.

Making it up as he goes along

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Either Woodward is making this book up as he goes along or he feels the best way to communicate Bush's character is to tell as many lies as he possibly can. Beginning in the prologue (xiii), we are told that in the mid 1970's, the CIA fresh from turning most of Latin America into military dictatorships, "was at perhaps its lowest point." On page 3, we are told that although George W. Bush is not known to have shown up for duty with the Texas Air National Guard (all the records of this Congressman's son's service, if there were any, having mysteriously disappeared) he learned to fly the F-102 jet (and why not, many a movie has shown us that a child can do it first time out of the box.) I'd relay more lies had I not stopped reading.