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

Douglas J. Feith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060899735 ISBN 13: 9780060899738

Publisher: Harper, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Douglas J. Feith served as U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2001 to 2005. He is the Director of the Center for National Security Strategies at the Hudson Institute and a Belfer Center Adjunct Visiting Scholar at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He lives near Washington, D.C., with his family.

From AudioFile:

Douglas Feith, a key member of Donald Rumsfeld's circle, wants a chance to set straight what he believes is the true record of the Bush administration's defense and security policies. His book is a look into how the road to hell (in this case, the Iraq war) is paved with good intentions. As an audiobook, it is often confusing. The overlapping chronologies are difficult to follow, and the countless names of senior bureaucrats and aides add to the challenge of trying to follow the key relationships and decision chains. Narrator Holter Graham brings a strong, clear voice to Feith's memoir and gives the author a pleasant, disarming tone. This audiobook is genuinely fascinating but is not recommended for those who can't identify the Washington backroom players without a program. J.B.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0060899735
• ISBN 13: 9780060899738
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 688