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War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9780060899738
ISBN: 0060899735
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: March 01, 2008
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: April 08, 2008
Studio: Harper
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Editorial Review: In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, journalists, commentators, and others have published accounts of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism. But no senior Pentagon official has offered an inside view of those years, or has challenged the prevailing narrative of that war—until now.
Douglas J. Feith, the head of the Pentagon's Policy organization, was a key member of Donald Rumsfeld's inner circle as the Administration weighed how to protect the nation from another 9/11. In War and Decision, he puts readers in the room with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, General Tommy Franks, and other key players as the Administration devised its strategy and war plans. Drawing on thousands of previously undisclosed documents, notes, and other written sources, Feith details how the Administration launched a global effort to attack and disrupt terrorist networks; how it decided to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime; how it came to impose an occupation on Iraq even though it had avoided one in Afghanistan; how some officials postponed or impeded important early steps that could have averted major problems in Iraq's post-Saddam period; and how the Administration's errors in war-related communications undermined the nation's credibility and put U.S. war efforts at risk.
Even close followers of reporting on the Iraq war will be surprised at the new information Feith provides—presented here with balance and rigorous attention to detail. Among other revelations, War and Decision demonstrates that the most far-reaching warning of danger in Iraq was produced not by State or by the CIA, but by the Pentagon. It reveals the actual story behind the allegations that the Pentagon wanted to "anoint" Ahmad Chalabi as ruler of Iraq, and what really happened when the Pentagon challenged the CIA's work on the Iraq-al Qaida relationship. It offers the first accurate account of Iraq postwar planning—a topic widely misreported to date. And it presents surprising new portraits of Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Richard Armitage, L. Paul Bremer, and others—revealing how differences among them shaped U.S. policy.
With its blend of vivid narrative, frank analysis, and elegant writing, War and Decision is like no other book on the Iraq war. It will interest those who have been troubled by conflicting accounts of the planning of the war, frustrated by the lack of firsthand insight into the decision-making process, or skeptical of conventional wisdom about Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism—efforts the author continues to support.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Essential Iraq War Book
I saw at Powerline that Doug Feith testified before the house judiciary committee subcommittee, and that prompted me to share my enthusiasm for this book, in which Mr. Feith discusses how and why we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He documents the process, beginning with 911, staff discussions that occurred immediately followed 911, and on through the lengthy public process (in the case of Iraq) that led to the decision to go to war. Along the way, Mr. Feith provides excellent insight into the ... Read More
Rating: - Meticulously documented & informative memoir
`War & Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism` by Douglas Feith
Mr. Feith does a remarkable job of recounting his - all firsthand - experiences from his tumultuous time serving the country at the Pentagon as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. In this thoroughly researched, meticulously footnoted and highly readable memoir of 5 historic years, many of the myths propagated (those that the author was party to and had refuting documentation) in the media ... Read More
Rating:  - 60 Minutes Sums It Up
I love how 60 minutes ripped this man apart on national television. He was a completely incompotent decision-maker of an invasion that has not only destroyed America's international credibility, but has destroyed the Iraqi people. The fact that this man agreed to disbanding the Iraqi army, effectively creating 400 thousand unemployed and armed civilians in an unstable, leaderless, and poverty-stricken nation proves that this man and the Bush administration never had Iraqi peace on the agenda. They ... Read More
Rating: - War and Decision
A very deep, well-researched and informed book. An important work which should be read by anyone for or against the Iraq war
Rating:  - An Interesting Inside View Of What Is Going On.
I found this book to be an interesting inside view of what was going on. I first saw the book on the daily show with John Stewart, and thought i'd pick it up. Wether or not you agree with Douglas Feith on the issue of deception, this book is filled with information you should probably know.
Factual, mostly unbiased accounts of what was going on, and also what is in the official records too, is what this book is filled with. I personally liked that it has a map of that region of the world in the ... Read More
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