State of Denial, Bush at War, Part III
by Bob Woodward, 2006
This book definitely does not have as much impact as All the President’s Men, which was instrumental in driving Richard Nixon out of office. It does, however, shed a great deal of light on what has happened over the last couple of years when we were supposedly “making progress” in Iraq.
I was especially struck by the portrait presented of Don Rumsfeld. History may eventually determine that Rumsfeld was right in most of his ideas: streamlining the military to provide a quicker and more accurate response, making the Iraqis stand up and take responsibility, fewer rather than more troops. Unfortunately, his terrible management style and inability to work as a team member were key ingredients leading to failure. George Bush, unfortunately, was not competent enough to recognize the impacts early enough to make a timely correction.
Having been in the business world for many years, I recognize some of the characteristics of these types of managers. They are the ones who are always right and seem to be unfazed by the results of their poor decisions. The difference is that a business can lose money or even fold and that is too bad. In the case of a nation, it is a disaster.
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