"Interviews with Decision Makers"

Ten months after George W. Bush became president, Al Qaeda terrorists demolished the Twin Towers and damaged the Pentagon. More people were killed in this surprise attack than were killed at Pearl Harbor. President Bush, when he realized what happened, told himself "They have declared war on us." "When we find out who did this, they're not going to like me as president." A few days later, President Bush formed a National Security Council.

The Security Council identified Al Qaeda suicide bombers as the attackers and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as providing safe haven and training camps for Al Qaeda. Before the whole world, President Bush told the Taliban that we demand you turn Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda over to us. If our demands are not met, we will treat you the same as the terrorists you harbor. A few days later, the Taliban asked to see what evidence we have. Our demands challenged, the war was on. We all saw television coverage of the war, but how was the war planned and executed?

Bob Woodward, in BUSH AT WAR tells us. Woodward interviewed President Bush and his newly formed National Security Council, including Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condolezzas Rice, and others to get information. Woodward was told that, right away, the National Security Council realized this war would have to be fought differently than previous wars.

Some of our allies criticized the war, while help and support came from unexpected countries. Russia's Putin told President Bush that he would assure the Central Asian States that Russia has no objection to the American role in Central Asia. Putin also offered search and rescue teams for pilots shot down over Northern Afghanistan.

The National Security Council's main concerns were to avoid putting large troop units into Afghanistan and to minimize Afghan casualties. They also planned to provide food and medicine for displaced civilians. Quick victory can be assured if the Afghan rival tribes and military groups cooperate. It was hoped they would be willing to form a stable government representing the interest of all Afghans. The military knew that new tactics would have to be implemented before launch an attack. Implementation was difficult. Planes had to be based within striking range. Air rescue of downed pilots had to be operational. The rival Afghan tribes had to be brought together. It took more time than expected to get ready, but, once ready, the war ended quickly. On September 26, 2001, the first American combatants entered Afghanistan. They consisted of 316 special forces men aided by massive Air Force precision bombing, and 110 CIA agents who helped the Afghan people overthrow the Taliban and rid their country of Al Qaeda. On December 22, 2001, 110 days after 911, a new democratic provisional government ruled Afghanistan.

February 5, 2002, twenty-five Americans gather outside Gardez, Afghanistan. They bury a remnant of the World Trade Center, read a prayer, then consecrate the spot as an everlasting memorial to the innocent Americans who died on September 11. If you are interested in how the war in Afghanistan was planned and managed, you will enjoy BUSH AT WAR.

Reviewed by Maurice A. Williams
Posted November 2, 2003

Summary

With his unmatched investigative skill, Bob Woodward tells the behind-the-scenes story of how President George W. Bush and his top national security advisers, after the initial shock of the September 11 attacks, led the nation to war. Extensive quotations from the secret deliberations of the National Security Council -- and firsthand revelations of the private thoughts, concerns and fears of the president and his war cabinet -- make Bush at War an unprecedented chronicle of a modern presidency in time of grave crisis. Based on interviews with more than a hundred sources and four hours of exclusive interviews with the president, Bush at War reveals Bush's sweeping, almost grandiose, vision for remaking the world. "I'm not a textbook player, I'm a gut player," the president said. Woodward's virtual wiretap into the White House Situation Room reveals a stunning group portrait of an untested president and his advisers, three of whom might themselves have made it to the presidency. Vice President Dick Cheney, taciturn but hard-line, always pressing for more urgency in Afghanistan and toward Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell, the cautious diplomat and loyal soldier, tasked with building an international coalition in an administration prone to unilateralism. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the brainy agitator and media star who led the military through Afghanistan and, he hopes, through Iraq. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the ever- present troubleshooter who surprisingly emerges as perhaps the president's most important adviser. Bush at War includes a vivid portrait of CIA director George Tenet, ready and eager for covert action against terrorists in Afghanistan and worldwide. It follows a CIA paramilitary team leader on a covert mission inside Afghanistan to pay off assets and buy friends with millions in U.S. currency carried in giant suitcases. In Bush at War, Bob Woodward once again delivers a reporting tour de force.