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

Description

Of all the players in the planning and evolution of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism, few were more integral--or more controversial--than Douglas Feith, the chief strategist on Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon policy team. A highly influential international policy analyst for more than a quarter century, Feith worked closely with Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Cheney, and President Bush in defining the U.S. response to the attacks of 9/11--from the successful war on Afghanistan to the more challenging invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. Now, in this candid and revealing memoir, Feith--a charter member of the neoconservative movement and an architect of the administration's preventive strategy in the war on terrorism--offers the most in-depth and authoritative account yet of the Pentagon's evolving stance during one of the most controversial eras of American history. Drawing upon a unique trove of documents and records, this extraordinary chronicle will put the reader in the room for scores of previously unreported senior-level meetings, showing how hundreds of critical decisions were made in defense of American interests during and after the crisis of 9/11--decisions both successful and controversial. Where journalists like Bob Woodward could only speculate, Feith is the first inside player to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, at a time when history hung in the balance.--From publisher description.;This means war -- Trajectory -- Change the way we live, or change the way they live -- Steady in Afghanistan -- Easier to topple than rebuild -- Why Iraq? -- Risks of action and inaction -- Discord in Washington -- Iraq planning : the who and why -- United Nations bound -- Losing ground on the diplomatic front -- Final preparations for war and for aftermath -- Saddam's regime falls -- "From liberation to occupation" -- The taint of occupation -- Lessons and debate. This means war -- Trajectory -- Change the way we live, or change the way they live -- Steady in Afghanistan -- Easier to topple than rebuild -- Why Iraq? -- Risks of action and inaction -- Discord in Washington -- Iraq planning : the who and why -- United Nations bound -- Losing ground on the diplomatic front -- Final preparations for war and for aftermath -- Saddam's regime falls -- "From liberation to occupation" -- The taint of occupation -- Lessons and debate.