Bush at War by Bob Woodward

Bush at War

by Bob Woodward

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History & Foreign AffairsPolitics & Power

The Situation Room, the war cabinet, and roughly the first 100 days after September 11. Woodward reconstructs how Bush, Cheney, Powell, Tenet and Rice planned the Afghanistan war and began turning toward Iraq, working from the officials and their meeting notes. How much of what you're reading is the principals' own version?

Core ideas
  • Big ambitions, split cabinet: A relatively inexperienced president set out to reshape the world, and his war cabinet was frequently at odds.
  • Iraq in the background: The fight against al-Qaeda, Tora Bora included, runs alongside early preparation for Iraq, the decision Plan of Attack later took up.
  • The cost of access: Foreign Affairs argued that reliance on the principals skewed the picture, and former CIA officer Michael Scheuer attacked its sanctioned leaks.
Published2002
Pages416
ISBN9780743461078
ReadDec 2025

Connected to 3 other books

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The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock The Afghanistan Papers Craig Whitlock Read Jul 2026 Three administrations told you the war in Afghanistan was going well while saying privately that it was being lost. State of Denial by Bob Woodward State of Denial Bob Woodward Read Jan 2026 Who pushed Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld? Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq by Bob Woodward Plan of Attack Bob Woodward Read Jan 2026 Seventy-two days after 9/11, George W.