The Commanders पीडीएफ बॉब वुडवर्ड
It is impossible to examine any part of the war on terrorism in the twenty-first century without seeing the hand of Dick Cheney, Colin Powell or one of their loyalists. The Commanders, an account of the use of the military in the first Bush administration, is in many respects their story the intimate account of the tensions, disagreements and debates on the road to war.
"During my 30 years of reporting and book writing, I have found that
journalism and public discussion too often turn to the future, which we can’t know, rather than the past, which we can. The coordinated terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 that killed nearly 5,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania will likely mark a pivot point in history. President George W. Bush has declared what he says will be a prolonged war on terrorism, and as I write, the initial phase of that war has begun against Afghanistan. The Gulf War of 1991 was the last time this country was in a major war. Two of the men at the epicenter then were Dick Cheney, then Secretary of Defense, and Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military man. Together they effectively ran that war. In the current war on terrorism, Cheney, now the Vice President, and Powell, now the Secretary of State, are the only war veterans with previous service in senior roles. The others, including President George W. Bush, have never been tested in the crucible of war. Cheney and Powell have lived in that crucible."