Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack" skillfully and with limited elucidation chronicles the decision-making process that lead up to the War in Iraq. The author of the paper then argues, based on his interpretation of Woodward's book, that the Iraq war was caused by a number of factors: 1) the desire of a core group of advisors to oust Saddam Hussein 2) the belief that ousting Hussein could be done with relative ease, 3) the events of September 11, and 4) the opportunity for a grand strategic play to democratize the Middle East.

From the Paper:

"Even before President George W. Bush took his oath of office, the Vice President-elect Dick Cheney was focused on Iraq. In early January 2001, Cheney asked outgoing Secretary of Defense William Cohen to brief Bush on issues of national security, "adding that he wanted a serious 'discussion about Iraq and different options.' The president-elect should not be given the routine, canned, round-the-world tour normally given to incoming presidents. Topic A should be Iraq." A few days later, Bush received another critical national security briefing from CIA director George Tenet."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Daalder, Ivo. "The Bush Revolution: The Remaking of America's Foreign Policy." May 2003. The Brookings Institution.
• Tunc, Hakan. "What was it about after all? The causes of the Iraq war." Contemporary Security Policy 26 (2005): 335-355.
• Woodward, Bob. Plan of Attack. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.

More papers on Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack":

• Analytical Essay # 17326 : "Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's "All The President's Men"
• Essay # 36609 : "The Master Plan of Evangelism"
• Analytical Essay # 16626 : "Plan of Life"

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