Woodward: Bush ‘too often failed to lead.’
Woodward: Bush ‘too often failed to lead.’
In his fourth book on President Bush, called “The War Within,” journalist Bob Woodward reveals a president who was hardly at the helm of his own Iraq war policy. The Washington Post offered a preview of the book:
According to Woodward, the president maintained an odd detachment from the reviews of war policy during this period, turning much of the process over to [National Security Adviser Stephen] Hadley. “Let’s cut to the chase,” Bush told Woodward, “Hadley drove a lot of this.” […]
In response to a question about how the White House settled on a troop surge of five brigades after the military leadership in Washington had reluctantly said it could provide two, Bush said: “Okay, I don’t know this. I’m not in these meetings, you’ll be happy to hear, because I got other things to do.”
Woodward also notes that “groundbreaking surveillance techniques” — and not the surge — were largely responsible for the drop of violence in Iraq, and he details the conflict between Bush and his top military advisers, particularly Gen. George Casey:
“Casey had long concluded that one big problem with the war was the president himself,” Woodward writes. “He later told a colleague in private that he had the impression that Bush reflected the ‘radical wing of the Republican Party that kept saying, “Kill the bastards! Kill the bastards! And you’ll succeed.”‘” […]
Calling Bush “the nation’s most divisive figure,” Woodward ends his book with a stinging indictment of the president, saying he was “rarely the voice of realism on the Iraq war.”
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This shows the damage pathological leaders can do to an organization, in this case our Executive Branch of government.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:54 amAnd that radical wing of the Republican Party is the PNAC. It is very easy to envision Dick(head) Cheney saying “Kill the bastards! Kill the bastards!”
September 5th, 2008 at 10:55 amBush said: “Okay, I don’t know this. I’m not in these meetings, you’ll be happy to hear, because I got other things to do.”
- - But, but, but….WARTIME PRESIDENT!!!
The Wartime President who couldn’t make time for the war.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:57 amAnd the big media too often failed to call him on this failing–including Woodward!
September 5th, 2008 at 10:59 amLooks like the historians are getting a head start on laying out GDumbya’s legacy . . . and it ain’t going to be pretty.
Now, just where were Little Johnny McNumbNuts and the rest of the republicans while this was going on? AWOL, that’s where.
Like it or not, McNumbNuts cannot get away with running as a maverick, outsider or reformer. He is part of the problem and has been for 26 years.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:00 amImagine how much worse things would be if Bush had succeeded in leading!
September 5th, 2008 at 11:00 amI can say for the first time in the last 7.5 years, I am truly shocked!
Bush not a leader? The footage of him sitting in that classroom upon hearing about the 9/11 attacks made it clear - he was scared and couldn’t or didn’t respond how a leader would have.
What was more disheartening was the lame excuse (the children) they used to explain his paralysis.
In my household, the man of the family would of said no more than “Grown Folks Stuff Kids I Gotta Go!” They were kids for heavens sakes.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:00 amWasn’t Woodward kissing the GD Moron’s ass after 9/11? The wind is blowing the other way now, huh Bob?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:00 amConsidering Bob is a company man, it behooves us to listen.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:02 amThe issue is not LEADERSHIP. It’s WHERE the leader is taking us. I think we should admit that Bush and McCain are great leaders, but so have been many others in history who led their followers to disaster for themselves and others. All I see is McCain leading us closer to the cliff that Bush has been walking toward for eight years.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 amSome of us tried to warn you…
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 amI think most of us could have written the theme of this book without research.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 amBadmoodman Says
September 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
- - But, but, but….WARTIME PRESIDENT!!!
The Wartime President who couldn’t make time for the war.
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The puppet doesn’t normally attend the meetings. And it’s stories like this one that expose Bush for the puppet he is.
The question to ask is — did the hand up the puppet’s a$$ attend the meetings? I imagine he did. Cheney made it his business to be involved with everything at all levels.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:05 amThe footage of him sitting in that classroom upon hearing about the 9/11 attacks made it clear - he was scared and couldn’t or didn’t respond how a leader would have.
Exactly. And this is what has been so maddening about Congress. They could not or would not see that the emperor was wearing no clothes. With all the incompetence and downright illegal stuff going on in this disastrous administration, they couldn’t get their act together and fire (read “impeach”) the bastids.
GDumbya and Darth Cheney would have folded like cheap suits if articles of impeachment had been filed and taken up for action. Thank you, Dennis Kucinich. Damn you, Nancy Pelosi.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:05 amPatrioticLiberalChristian Says
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I think we should admit that Bush and McCain are great leaders…
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True — in that they have effectively led us (although, as you say, toward a cliff). Easy to do when the nation is dumbed down to the point where we blindly follow the direction of anyone considered to be “in charge”.
I’ve always thought that the most valuable thing one can teach a child is how to think for him/herself. If we all had that skill, it would remove the lemming mindset that is all too common in our society.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:09 amBob Woodward will never be found manning a position one side of the fence. When Bush was popular, Woodward wrote fawning, sycophantic sucking-up tomes. Now that Bush’s approval rating has been reduced to the most rabid Republican partisans and Bush’s immediate family, Woodward writes an expose. This finger in the wind writing style, coupled with his part in the outing of a covert CIA agent’s identity, ought to doom Woodward to obscurity. Instead, because he’s one of Washington’s Really Serious People, he still has role in shaping public opinion.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:10 amI bet Bushco has been pretty pissed about Woodward’s output since being granted total access to the Bush Cabinet and the President himself. One book after another slamming the most incompetent administration in my lifetime….
September 5th, 2008 at 11:10 amRemember, Mr. 95% (we all know who that is) continues to support the War, the Economy, and all the other looming problems created by the people in power.
Let me see, should I vote for someone who continues to support the people that made this mess and who promises to continue making messes or do I vote for someone else…..
September 5th, 2008 at 11:12 am“Okay, I don’t know this. I’m not in these meetings, you’ll be happy to hear, because I got other things to do. Things like clear brush, ride my big wheel, relax with a six of lone star. That kinda stuff, ya know!”
September 5th, 2008 at 11:13 amLike the late great Ann Richards said of Bu$H: “Here’s a guy that was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.”
September 5th, 2008 at 11:14 amAnd Johnnie and Sarah would be even worse. Especially if Johnnie doesn’t make it to 2012.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:14 amYeah? And?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 amAnn said that about GHW Bush. Tes Strickland said GW was born on 3rd base and then stole second.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 amDidHeJustSayThat Says: #7
A real president would have simply gotten up and stated that he had to go back to work and thanked them for a wonderful time. In less than 30 seconds after his departure they would have gone back to being enthralled with their crayons and Play Doh.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 amTed Strickland
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 amLOL, maybe that was it. But I think given what we know now, he was born on 3rd base then Dick Cheney ordered him to run to home even though there was no suicide squeeze…
September 5th, 2008 at 11:19 amIt boils down to this:
September 5th, 2008 at 11:21 amBush is lazy
over 1000 days on vacation in 8 years
he has always been lazy
he has always been bailed out of his failures
the money he lost in his business failures was somebody else’s money
Bu$h is the epitome of a silver spoon daddy’s boy ne’er do well slacker. Never worked a real job in his life, ruined everything he touched. McCain is hardly any better, having ridden on the coattails of his father’s legacy and his rich trophy wife’s fortune. Yeah, so he got shot down over Vietnam. Still doesn’t make him a better man.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:23 amBush and Cheney are not great leaders by any mark. Cheney is a cold hearted authoritarian with little compassion for his subjects. Bush is a distracted, petulant, foul mouthed miscreant.
Neither understand systems, people, knowledge, variation and their interactions. Bush talks about the miracle of Japan, partly created by an American management theorists, Dr. W. Edwards Deming. He lamented the great losses caused by Bush/Cheney type ignorance.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am“Bush reflected the ‘radical wing of the Republican Party that kept saying, “Kill the bastards! Kill the bastards! And you’ll succeed.””
And wouldn’t America be comforted to know that Sarah Palin is being coached on foreign policy by AIPAC and li’l Joey Lyeberman? Round and round we go…
September 5th, 2008 at 11:28 amForty, fifty years after Vietnam and Korea I’m not hearing anyone praising the Presidents that started our involvements in those places. As much as we’ve heard about certain POW’s sacrifice, nothing is said about what he was doing there to begin with.
Personnally, I was in that 12% or whatever it was right after 9/11 because I never saw anything more than a political operative making grandios statements and not showing any real leadership. If he had exhibited true leadership, I doubt he would have such a dismal record when it comes to bringing the 9/11 terrorists to justice.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:30 amThere are bigger things happening behind the scenes. Why did Obama capitulate and approve Telecom retro immunity under the new FISA legislation? Why is Obama chastising Russia for defending the South Ossetians after US and Israeli backed Georgian leader Saakashvili bombed them ruthlessly? Why is Obama not addressing recent police tactics in squashing our first ammendment rights during the two political conventions? Why is Obama wanting to shift the Iraq war to Afghanistan? You’re not going to catch bin Laden that way. That’s been proven. Is he still alive? Is he real? Is he even there if he is alive?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:30 amI’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on some things and still vote for him this time because I will never vote for the retards and retreads that the republicans give us. If Obama is elected he’d better have an epiphany of some sorts and just do what’s right and not be just another puppet of Israel and the corporations.
Cal Malenky Says:
“…the money he lost in his business failures was somebody else’s money”
Notably the Bin Laden family’s money in 1988:
September 5th, 2008 at 11:32 amhttp://www.historycommons.org/ context.jsp?item=a1988failedman
McNumbNuts is going to save us from all of this lack of leadership, though. He and Failin’ Palin are going to do “reach-arounds” and get all mavericky and everything.
“PALIN/(mccain) 2008″
September 5th, 2008 at 11:32 amBush blames Hadley for Iraq war planning? And he left Joe Hagin in charge during Hurricane Katrina. Bush decided to have Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend fly to Saudi Arabia while New Orleans filled like a bathtub.
Who decided to curse while chewing a hot buttered roll at a G-8 meeting? Was that Andy Card’s or Josh Bolten’s fault?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:34 amBush blames Hadley for Iraq war planning? etc. etc. etc.
Poor GDumbya. Just look at all the people that he “invested political capital in” and they all failed him. Very, very sad . . . for the entire country.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:35 amThe puppet master? It’s always been Richard Cheney.
Harken bark to the days of George Bush’s ascension to the throne of the Republican party. Tapped to find the most qualified running mate for him? None other than Richard Cheney.
In a few short weeks of sifting through potential Vice Presidential running mates, Cheney managed to eliminate any and all competition, and declared himself the most fit and suitable individual for the job, humbly placing his own name before the campaign organization and the party. How quickly we seem to forget…
Could anyone not see this completely transparent process for exactly what it was at the time?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:38 amA lazy leader who assigns his work without overseeing is what this person has done. Lazy voters did not look at this man’s history of failure just jumped on the PR bandwagon. And now we all have to pay and pay and pay and pay.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:39 amMcCain might be a good man at heart but his judgement choosing an untested person for the second place is totally bush, just look at FEMA for example one of many examples.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:41 am“Kill the bastards” ?? LOL…now THERE’S a good reason, among several others, that dismal sow Babs should have had a bunch of abortions.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:44 am“… because I got other things to do.” - G Bush.
And what would those things be? Cut brush? Ride your bicycle? Get loaded mid-day? Cop a feel off Condi?
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Woodward ends his book with a stinging indictment of the president, saying he was “rarely the voice of realism on the Iraq war.”
Pssshaw, Bob… Botch has rarely been the “voice of realism” on ANYTHING, let alone the Iraq war.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:47 amBush “the nation’s most divisive figure,” well, duh…and the war criminal is still in office, isn’t he.
Bush was “rarely the voice of realism on the Iraq war.”, well, double duh…and the war criminal is still in office, isn’t he.
Worst, most criminal President in History, and Grampy McSame will continue this great legacy.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:50 amAt what point did Woodward experience the epiphany that now permits him to be guardedly critical of the Busheviks?
When did he cease being the chief prostate-cleanser for Chimp/Cheney and discover there was nothing there there all along?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:51 amPatrioticLiberalChristian Says:
——————————————————————————–
The issue is not LEADERSHIP. It’s WHERE the leader is taking us. I think we should admit that Bush and McCain are great leaders, but so have been many others in history who led their followers to disaster for themselves and others. All I see is McCain leading us closer to the cliff that Bush has been walking toward for eight years.
and #15 Miss hussein Molly
**Amen, amen. The shrub and darth cheney have taken us EXACTLY where the wanted us. We MUST not underestimate their “leadership” skills. And as for critical thinking skills–during 16 years of teaching I literally watched my students (computer ed) get dumbed down. They couldn’t think for themselves. They wanted to be told what to do. I got so frustrated by this I went out and bought critical thinking workbooks and logic puzzles for kids. Not quite computer ed. but so necessary for teaching. It was so sad.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am@ 39, texaslady Says:
September 5th, 2008 at 11:57 amMcCain might be a good man at heart but his judgement choosing an untested person for the second place is totally bush, just look at FEMA for example one of many examples.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:41 am
“McCain might be a good man at heart.”
Why would you even consider such a fantasy?
He volunteered to drop high-explosive ordnance on an innocent, civilian population, murdering and maiming hundreds if not thousands in his bloody-handed glee…
McShitstain does not have an uncorrupted corpuscle in his whole body. He’s vile, vicious, murderous. He’d kill you and your children and your animals as soon as look at you, just to teach you a lesson in obedience. Look in his eyes. They’re dead and devoid of emotion as those of a shark. You’d NEVER want to turn your back on him if you had what he wanted.
it’s the drinking…
it kills the memory.
*
September 5th, 2008 at 11:58 amI’ve noticed that too. When he tries to look kind and benevolent he just can’t pull it off, it looks like he is pretending.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pmBob Woodward can take his new book and shove it! Woodward has sat on his ass while this nation was going down the tubes. Did he EVER speak up years ago when he got an idea of what Bush and his croonies were DOING?? Hell no, he sat back and waited to PUBLISH A BOOK.
Mr. Woodward is IMHO a money hungry traitor. You want to read his book, get a copy from the library, don’t make this ass even more rich.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pmAt what point did Woodward experience the epiphany that now permits him to be guardedly critical of the Busheviks?
When did he cease being the chief prostate-cleanser for Chimp/Cheney and discover there was nothing there there all along?
Read Woodward’s “State of Denial” published in 2006.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pmNow Woodward criticises Bush. Before, Woodward believed that Bush was a god like creature who could do no wrong.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pmIt’s really weird that Woodward, who played such a prominent role in bringing down the Nixon administration, would have devoted his first Bush book to hero-worship.
Why did it take him so long to see that GWB was simply the sequel to Nixon? Surely all those Nixon people — Rumsfeld, Cheney, Fielding — must have been a tip off.
Or did he ever see it? Did he just take his cues from Bush’s poll numbers, as some have suggested?
September 5th, 2008 at 1:03 pmBush can’t even spell realism.
This is Cheney’s war, just as it’s Cheney’s administration. Whether the Ford, Reagan, or Bush the Dumber era, we’ve seen the reincarnation of the Nipponese Shogunate where the Emperor was merely figurehead.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:25 pmPatrioticLiberalChristian Says:
The issue is not LEADERSHIP. It’s WHERE the leader is taking us. I think we should admit that Bush and McCain are great leaders, but so have been many others in history who led their followers to disaster for themselves and others. All I see is McCain leading us closer to the cliff that Bush has been walking toward for eight years.
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No I cant in all good concience admit to something I dont believe for a second. I dont know about McCains leadership ability but Bush is neither intelligent enough nor has the temperment to be a good leader. A GOOD leader wouldnt sit in comfort at the white house and say bring it on to insurgents killing our troops. A GOOD leader wouldnt LIE so darn often to the people he was leading. By NO REASONABLE STANDARD could Bush be considered an ADEQUATE leader much less a great one
September 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pmOh come on folks! The rich had to get richer NO MATTER WHAT! 8yrs may not even be enough! They’re hoping for 4 more! 12 yrs with the hopes of wiping out the middle class completely creating a huge chasm between the have mores and everybody else.
The idiot crept up like a worm. So illegitimate. And ever since then it’s been lies after lies. Failure after failure. Staged terrorist attack at the WTC. Failed criminal war, overstretched army. Treating war veterans like dirt at Walter Reed. Not to mention our unsustainable way of life in a crumbling economy. Corporate America is humanity’$ wor$t enemy. Foreclosures and more foreclosures. The idiot has foreclosed the american dream.
But he’s still there. Why? Ah yes! the rich keep getting richer.
So we’ll keep losing our jobs and our civil liberties. Who knows what the idiot is up to next? He’s still got couple more months and he’s always gotten away with crime. He should be jailed, tried, and excuted along with his butt buddies Dick “strap-on” Cheney and Karl Rove.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:43 pm“Woodward: Bush ‘too often failed to lead.’
September 5th, 2008 at 6:09 pmI disagree… Bush is the leading WAR CRIMINAL since WWII. Bush and his JUNTA are the leading group destroying the Geneva Convention and the pricipals of the Nuremberg Tribunal, Bush and his criminal team are leading the USA image and economy to the ground.
A lot of feisty comments. Wow! Did you all just receive your welfare checks? You just can’t live with the reality that after 9/11 there hasn’t been a terrorist attack on US soil. Unlike Clinton, Bush has succeeded in protecting America.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:09 pmRightOfAttila Says:
A lot of feisty comments. Wow! Did you all just receive your welfare checks? You just can’t live with the reality that after 9/11 there hasn’t been a terrorist attack on US soil. Unlike Clinton, Bush has succeeded in protecting America.
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An EXPLOSION of ignorance from Rightobestupid. leading off with a hivemind classic about liberals on wellfare. More indirect whining about your taxes but this liberal makes so much money I probably put out more in TIPS than you pay in taxes, especially from your mommys basement, living there being the only reason YOU arent on wellfare. Then again with your obvious mental deficiency that would probably be SS disability. I have a houseplant here with a higher IQ than you and its made of plastic. Let see when the FIRST WTC bombing happened Clinton had just become president. Everyone involved was quickly put in prison and will never get out Osama Ben Laden kills 3000 Americans in the next WTC attack and he is still sending out videos like he is auditioning for MTV VJ and Bush says he doesnt even think about him. AFTER the WTC attack there WAS that anthrax mailing which was terrorism by any definition so besides being incredibly stupid you are also WRONG. Only someone as ignorant as YOU would call that protecting us. How many mulligans do we give Bush and are you just sticking up for him because you both took the same shortbus to school? Look we understand you are a troll because you know you are far too stupid to actually enter into the discussion. You come in here and insult us because you are too stupid to do anything else and still feel insecure from when you were failing school and all those smart kids that could read and knew stuff just made you feel so small. Well you ARE small, a small insignificant punk, one that comes in here and insults us to make him feel like he is getting back at all those smart kids and like you arent quite the loser you in fact obviously are.
September 7th, 2008 at 6:48 pmEugene, Eugene, Eugene, if you’re as rich as you say you are, then you should be able to fund universal healthcare without the goverment being involved. Obviously you can’t and that’s why you and your cohorts keep harping about tax increases to support universal health care. Obviously you’re a lying pig like the rest of your kind. The truth hurts. Look at the mirror and see yourself for who you truly are - just another big failure looking for govt’ handouts.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:29 pm