Category: History: 21st Century

Copyright/published Year: 2008 by Harper

ISBN: 9780060899738

Binding: Hardcover

Description:

War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the ì War on Terrorism

In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, ì journalists, commentators, and others have published accounts of ì the Bush Administration's war on terrorism. But no senior ì Pentagon official has offered an inside view of those years, or ì has challenged the prevailing narrative of that war-until ì now.

Douglas J. Feith, the head of the Pentagon's Policy ì organization, was a key member of Donald Rumsfeld's inner circle ì as the Administration weighed how to protect the nation from ì another 9/11. In War and Decision, he puts readers in the room ì with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Rumsfeld, Paul ì Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, General Tommy Franks, ì and other key players as the Administration devised its strategy ì and war plans. Drawing on thousands of previously undisclosed ì documents, notes, and other written sources, Feith details how ì the Administration launched a global effort to attack and disrupt ì terrorist networks; how it decided to overthrow the Saddam ì Hussein regime; how it came to impose an occupation on Iraq even ì though it had avoided one in Afghanistan; how some officials ì postponed or impeded important early steps that could have ì averted major problems in Iraq's post-Saddam period; and how the ì Administration's errors in war-related communications undermined ì the nation's credibility and put U.S. war efforts at risk.

Even close followers of reporting on the Iraq war will be ì surprised at the new information Feith provides-presented here ì with balance and rigorous attention to detail. Among other ì revelations, War and Decision demonstrates that the most ì far-reaching warning of danger in Iraq was produced not by State ì or by the CIA, but by the Pentagon. It reveals the actual story ì behind the allegations that the Pentagon wanted to "anoint" Ahmad ì Chalabi as ruler of Iraq, and what really happened when the ì Pentagon challenged the CIA's work on the Iraq-al Qaida ì relationship. It offers the first accurate account of Iraq ì postwar planning-a topic widely misreported to date. And it ì presents surprising new portraits of Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, ì Richard Armitage, L. Paul Bremer, and others-revealing how ì differences among them shaped U.S. policy.

With its blend of vivid narrative, frank analysis, and elegant ì writing, War and Decision is like no other book on the ì Iraq war. It will interest those who have been troubled by ì conflicting accounts of the planning of the war, frustrated by ì the lack of firsthand insight into the decision-making process, ì or skeptical of conventional wisdom about Operation Iraqi Freedom ì and the global war on terrorism-efforts the author continues to ì support.

Condition Information

This is a used book and is in Good condition.

Additional condition description

2008 Hardcover. Remainder slash on page bottoms. light shelfwear to cover. Never read.