Bush At War-Propaganda

4 Pages 1106 Words

Bob Woodward’s book, Bush at War, presents the story line of the war on terrorism from the perspective of Bush and his administration without external researches or verification, making the book seem like endless propaganda leading towards an obsessive goal with attacking Iraq. Woodward’s research is mainly notes from interviews with Bush and information given to him by Bush’s administration; making the book seem more like propaganda. Woodward paints a picture of the President as an honest man who cares about the world and wants to bring peace. Condoleeza Rice is portrayed to be Bush’s adopted daughter and biggest fan. Powell and Bush’s relationship is constantly scrutinize more than necessary, and he (Powell) is like servant more than a the Secretary of State, he is always doing what he is told and when he inputs his opinion it is always shut down or not even considered. Although this is what is perceived of Powell in the book, Woodward makes up for Powell’s situation in the Whitehouse by writing good little paragraphs about him. Cheney's influence is downplayed which I think was intentional. Rumsfeld is portrayed to be a mean prick in contrast to Bush’s “humble, people-loving guy persona”, yet both came in unison when it came to war. Everyone else in the ensemble was more or less dancing along with whatever Bush and Rumsfeld said.
At moments I felt the book was like a play in which war making process seemed to flow scene-by-scene, meeting by meeting play. The players (Bush and his administration) seemed to be performing who they were supposed to be. I had to constantly remind myself that this is what supposedly really happened in the Whitehouse and Camp David.
Woodward begins with scene-by-scene account of where and what Bush and his administration were doing while the Twin Towers were crashing down. The book continues with series of meetings between Bush and his administration and their plan to attack. Between e...