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

Rating: - The Pentagon Strikes Back
Douglas Feith's memoir "War & Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism" is a fascinating and enlightening account of Feith's stint as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in Rumsfeld's Pentagon from 2001 through 2005. Feith provides a candid look at the inter-agency process in the US government as it responded to the 9/11 attacks and then prepared for and fought wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Feith's account challenges the conventional wisdom of the media's stories during this timeframe and responds to many of the other books about this period that have been released. Because of this, "War and Decision" is one of the most important books, if not the most important book, yet to come out on the government's response to 9/11 and the beginning of the Global War on Terror.

Feith is a policy wonk, and he writes about the inter-agency policy disagreements in the US government (mostly between Defense, State, and sometimes CIA). He tries to set the record straight on many things that, according to him, have been mis-reported in the media and in recent books (especially Tenet's memoir, Bremer's memoir, Woodward's books, "Cobra II," and "Fiasco"), including: Pentagon planning for post-war Iraq, his office's Special Plans Group, the Future of Iraq project, and the Free Iraqi Forces. And to help set the record straight, the book includes over a dozen declassified policy memos and briefing slides in the appendices to back up his assertions. Feith's website also includes a larger collection of official documents supporting his assertions.

Feith's biggest criticisms are of the State Department (especially David Armitage) and the CIA, although he is at times critical of Condoleezza Rice as the National Security Advisor. He lays broadside after broadside at State's failures, including how it pushed its own agenda, it failed to follow the President's directives, it failed to truly support the Global War on Terror, how Powell insisted on stressing WMD stockpiles as the reason to attack Iraq, and how State completely repudiated the Iraqi exiles (especially Chalabi) as potential leaders in post-Saddam Iraq. Feith attacks the CIA for their bad analysis of Iraqi capabilities and stockpiles - especially for not being up-front about their limited intelligence - and for their politicization of intelligence by CIA members who didn't support the President's policies. He argues that all of these missteps, especially State's and CIA's repudiation of the Iraqi exile leaders, contributed greatly to the problems the US had during the early occupation of Iraq. And he slams these agencies for their failure to cooperate, for the poorly functioning inter-agency process, and for their willingness to use media leaks to push their own agenda.

Because Feith was a deputy (the #3 man at the Pentagon, under Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) who did not work on every issue, he does not cover everything in this book. He tries to stick to issues that he had first-hand knowledge of and relied heavily on his own notes and documents. At times, he readily admits when there are holes in his knowledge because he was not privy to some meetings or issues. Because his focus was policy and not operations, he did not participate in much of the actual planning for the invasion of Iraq, so he barely mentions the issue that many critics of the Iraq war planning have laid at Rumsfeld's feet: inadequate forces during the invasion and during the immediate aftermath. Feith also barely addresses many of the issues surrounding the interrogation/torture policies at Guantanamo Bay, although according to many press reports he was involved in formulating this policy.

Feith stubbornly stands by many of his positions, admits errors on some, and admirably corrects the public record on many others. He believes that the US would have been much more successful in Iraq if we had worked closer with the Iraqi exiles (especially Chalabi) and had turned Iraq over to a transitional government within a couple of months of Saddam's overthrow. He believes that Bremer's disbanding of the Iraqi Army was the correct move, although he criticizes most of Bremer's later moves. He is a fervent admirer of his old boss Rumsfeld, although he didn't always agree with Rumsfeld's decisions. Feith also supported most of President Bush's policies but criticized the Administration for not always getting its message out - he says that ultimately the Global War on Terrorism will look better to historians than it does now because the Administration has not done a good job selling its successes.

This book is a surprisingly easy read considering it was written by a policy wonk, and it is clear that Feith is a brilliant thinker. While you may not be convinced by all of his arguments (I wasn't), you can appreciate that many of the Pentagon's policy positions weren't as caricatured in the press and by some writers since. Instead, they were all well thought-out, practical policies and positions, not radical proposals by a bunch of neocons who hijacked the American government. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about our government's real actions in the early years of the Global War on Terror.

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Rating: - The Real Story - A MUST READ
Douglas Feith has written an excellent book that takes you inside the decision-making and process of the White House and the Pentagon. His story, rooted in the notes from the actual meetings he attended, sheds a light on what really happened pre- and post-9/11 and you learn that what the press reported isn't actually what was happened. His straight-forward and factual with malice towards none approach is refreshing and needed. If only other biographers and historians were as careful as Feith.

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Rating: - The Essential Iraq War Book
I saw at Powerline that Doug Feith testified before the house judiciary committee subcommittee, and that prompted me to share my enthusiasm for this book, in which Mr. Feith discusses how and why we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He documents the process, beginning with 911, staff discussions that occurred immediately followed 911, and on through the lengthy public process (in the case of Iraq) that led to the decision to go to war. Along the way, Mr. Feith provides excellent insight into the style, character, and to the degree that one can know, motive in subsequent actions of all the major players.

Regarding motive, it is telling that the most thoroughly written arguments for or against a particular policy came from Donald Rumsfeld. Amid all the wild accusations about an illegal war, secrecy, impeach Bush, and that sort of nonsense, it is refreshing to have such an honorable and courageous public servant as Mr. Feith around to painstakingly document just how open, how much public debate, and how much scrutiny of the evidence went into the very difficult decision to go to war.

This book has been ignored to an incredible degree by the mainstream press, not only by the enemies of the administration, but was even dismissed by Bill O'Reilly, who is the king of the all knowing, king-making media gods. No big deal, except that it represents such a terrible injustice to the fine work done by Mr. Feith. If you care about how we ended up going to war in two countries following 911, read this book. The facts are all there.

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Rating: - Meticulously documented & informative memoir
`War & Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism` by Douglas Feith

Mr. Feith does a remarkable job of recounting his - all firsthand - experiences from his tumultuous time serving the country at the Pentagon as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. In this thoroughly researched, meticulously footnoted and highly readable memoir of 5 historic years, many of the myths propagated (those that the author was party to and had refuting documentation) in the media regarding Pentagon decision making, war strategies and policy are completely debunked. The book also remains critical of the key players - including Feith himself, as well as Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell, Armitage, Franks, Bremer, Rice, Cheney, of course President Bush, and others. The character of Donald Rumsfeld is also extremely well covered in this book with enough new information for anyone interested in current affairs and the players shaping the events of our time.

It may very well be decided that, after finishing this book, you simply disagree with the strategies and policies adopted by the Pentagon, and subsequently, the Bush administrations prosecution of the invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq and the "global war on terror". I think this would be just fine with the author. The narrative may serve to reinforce beliefs you've held to date, and conversely, reverse your thinking. Mr. Feith works hard to lay out the foundation of the decision making processes and attempt to put to rest some of the erroneous Pentagon reporting which took place during his tenure. Additionally, credit is certainly provided where credit is deserved to those reporters who maintained accuracy, even in highly critical situations.

I did not close `War & Decision' with the impression that I had just digested a tract penned merely to win a convert to a particular philosophy or policy. I was left, rather, with a clearer picture of this story (which is documented in its entirety) and an opportunity to make up my mind as to whether my countries policies and actions were properly conceived, examined, and executed. I don't think the author is worried whether the reader will agree or disagree, only that he or she is now privy to the first, first-person Pentagon perspective, which was painstakingly documented. Douglas Feith provides the facts coupled with his opinions (which he does not mask) which you use to assess one of the most important subjects of our time.

I'm sure there are folks who will scoff at even the mention of reading anything by Douglas Feith - I think that's a shame. It is my firm belief that anyone serious about gaining additional perspective into the Pentagon during this ever important period would be well served by picking up 'War & Decision' and taking the time to glean these important insights. In addition, all of the author's proceeds are being donated to charities which support our troops - anyone with a heart should feel good about the unparalleled return on that investment!

- Johnny

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Rating: - 60 Minutes Sums It Up
I love how 60 minutes ripped this man apart on national television. He was a completely incompotent decision-maker of an invasion that has not only destroyed America's international credibility, but has destroyed the Iraqi people. The fact that this man agreed to disbanding the Iraqi army, effectively creating 400 thousand unemployed and armed civilians in an unstable, leaderless, and poverty-stricken nation proves that this man and the Bush administration never had Iraqi peace on the agenda. They have been doing nothing but feed the fire of ethnic hatred. This book is filled with indoctrinating propaganda. They went to war under the flag of pre-emptive self-defence, a concept that Hitler used to justify the invasion of Poland back at the start of WWII. It is becomming painfully obvious now that the collateral damage this idiodic war has caused will only augment America's national "defence" budget, further damaging its already exhausted economy and monstrous national debt.