Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Spare me
Spare me.... Woodward is trying the impossible.... To make Bush look smart.... Someone must have hired Woodward to make Bush look credible...Powell is the only one who has some common sense...
Rating:  - Theater Criticism Applied to Washington Politics
I must admit my reading of Bob Woodward's Bush at War leaves me troubled. At a time when we are being asked to place our children in harm's way, in a part of the world that few of us have even visited, serious policy questions come to mind; questions that Bob Woodward could have appropriately addressed in a book of this nature. Rather, we are given a blow-by-blow account of the stage entrances and exits of key Washington players reconstructed from interviews and notes of the players. Instead of a thoughtful review of the questions raised, we are treated to theater-like criticism of the players. Instead of finishing the book with conclusions like "this is, or is not, the proper foreign policy for the world's only super power," we are left with conclusions like "Bush is focused," "Bush is in charge," "Condoleezza Rice plays an important role on the team," "Dick Cheney, a hardliner, did not appear to cooperate with the reporter" and "Donald Rumsfeld is a crafty agitator." These are conclusions I can draw from reading my daily newspaper. I recognize that television's pervasive influence has forced other media outlets to adapt a tabloid view of the world in order to compete for eyeballs. The type of book I want to read takes longer to prepare, if it is going to be done well. Clearly Bob Woodward and his publisher did not have that luxury. The market was hot; the holiday book selling season was upon us. Clearly a newspaper, like the Washington Post where the author serves as Assistant Managing Editor, provides the best medium to distribute this type of detailed reporting, but then again, that would cut out the book publisher. It is at times like this when I recognize how old fashioned I have become. Quality reporting belongs in the pages of a quality daily newspaper where it can be published in a timely fashion; books should be reserved for the policy questions raised by that reporting. Please excuse me while I hone the tip of my quill pen.
Rating:  - A President, a War, and an Account "in Progress"
Woodward is probably among the few journalists who could obtain the access indicated in this fascinating book. Over time, he has earned and deserves his reputation for asking relevant questions, listening carefully to responses, keeping confidences, protecting sources when appropriate, and meanwhile preserving his personal as well as professional integrity. Of course, President Bush and his associates shared with him only what they wanted him to know but they share a great deal. Woodward seems throughout circumspect when developing his narrative based on formal interviews and informal conversations as well as his participation in meetings. He also relies heavily on transcripts of various meetings of National Security Council.When reading Woodward's works which include eight bestsellers, I am always aware of the distinction between revealing and exposing information. In this volume, he offers a number of revelations (e.g. tone and nuance of interactions between and among members of the Bush administration) but collectively, they should not be viewed as an expose'. Those who keep themselves regularly informed of what seems to be happening in that administration are already aware of tensions between Powell and Rumsfeld as well as of Rice's close relationship with President Bush, especially after Karen Hughes returned to Texas. I was especially interested in what Woodward has to say about George Tenet and the activities of the C.I.A. following 9/11 and during preparations for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Many readers will also share my interest in what Woodward reveals about President Bush's leadership style and management skills. Woodward would be the last to claim that his book offers a definitive account of the first 18 months of the current Bush administration. Rather, I think it should be considered a remarkably well-documented and well-written "draft," one which (as suggested earlier) only Woodward and a few others could and would produce.
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