1 Boring Old Man

The Woodward War

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Woodward’s new book, like the other critical treatments of the war, is still an early draft of history. But with each new revelation, with each depiction of the chaotic events inside the White House and Pentagon in the months before and after the invasion of Iraq, the picture of Bush’s leadership becomes more refined and more disappointing.

I just watched 60 Minutes with Bob Woodward talking about his new book, State of Denial [transcript/video]. In spite of his monotonous drone and chronic lack of facial expressions, his report was scathing. I included this paragraph above from the Newsweek article because their phrase the chaotic events inside the White House and Pentagon captures the essence of Woodward’s narrative. And although he didn’t use the term we use in the blogs, "lies," he came as close as possible with "not telling the truth."

Woodward is not a pundit, he’s a reporter. He writes like a reporter. He talks like a reporter. But the level of bufoonery and incompetence he has to report in this book is a tragi-comedy, all floundering around the personality quirks of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. Like Colin Powell, Condi seems caught up in the game – and lost in the shuffle.

But from the interview, I surmise that all the bluster and speeches have essentially nothing to do with what’s actually hapenning in Iraq and that there’s actually no real plan for what to do in the face of an escalating insurgency and Civil War. Either they are incapable of coming up with a plan, or, more likely, at this point, there’s no plan to come up with. It’s a lost cause. In either case, there’s no "course" to "stay." Just more muddle and empty melodramatic patriotic rhetoric.