To Start a War
How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq
(Sprache: Englisch)
One of BookPage's Best Books of 2020
"The detailed, nuanced, gripping account of that strange and complex journey offered in Robert Draper's To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq is essential reading-now, especially now . . ....
"The detailed, nuanced, gripping account of that strange and complex journey offered in Robert Draper's To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq is essential reading-now, especially now . . ....
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One of BookPage's Best Books of 2020"The detailed, nuanced, gripping account of that strange and complex journey offered in Robert Draper's To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq is essential reading-now, especially now . . . Draper's account [is] one for the ages . . . A must-read for all who care about presidential power." -The Washington Post
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Dead Certain comes the definitive, revelatory reckoning with arguably the most consequential decision in the history of American foreign policy--the decision to invade Iraq.
Even now, after more than fifteen years, it is hard to see the invasion of Iraq through the cool, considered gaze of history. For too many people, the damage is still too palpable, and still unfolding. Most of the major players in that decision are still with us, and few of them are not haunted by it, in one way or another. Perhaps it's that combination, the passage of the years and the still unresolved trauma, that explains why so many protagonists opened up so fully for the first time to Robert Draper.
Draper's prodigious reporting has yielded scores of consequential new revelations, from the important to the merely absurd. As a whole, the book paints a vivid and indelible picture of a decision-making process that was fatally compromised by a combination of post-9/11 fear and paranoia, rank naïveté, craven groupthink, and a set of actors with idées fixes who gamed the process relentlessly. Everything was believed; nothing was true. The intelligence failure was comprehensive. Draper's fair-mindedness and deep understanding of the principal actors suffuse his account, as does a storytelling genius that is close to sorcery. There are no cheap shots here, which makes the ultimate conclusion all the more damning. In the spirit of Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August and Marc Bloch's Strange Defeat, To Start A War will stand as the definitive account of a collective
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process that arrived at evidence that would prove to be not just dubious but entirely false, driven by imagination rather than a quest for truth--evidence that was then used to justify a verdict that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and a flood tide of chaos in the Middle East that shows no signs of ebbing.
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Lese-Probe zu „To Start a War “
Chapter OneId e Fixe
At first Paul Wolfowitz mistook the tremors in the Pentagon for an earthquake. Such an event would have been rare in the nation's capital, but far more fathomable than what had in fact occurred at the opposite end of the building. It took a few bewildered seconds for him to connect the sudden pandemonium just outside his doorway with the events in New York he had seen on his office television less than a half hour earlier.
Uniformed officers entered the deputy secretary of defense's office and instructed him to evacuate immediately. Wolfowitz and his staffers hurried down the E Ring corridor. The entire Pentagon work force, thousands of them, assembled outside on the parade grounds. Black smoke swirled over the western side of the building where American Airlines Flight 77 had completed its path of destruction a few minutes before, at 9:37 on the morning of September 11, 2001.
Even when he was intended to be the center of attention, Wolfowitz cut an indistinct presence. He was fifty-seven and a father of three, recently divorced, a slight, fast-graying academic for whom certain big thoughts were all-consuming and everything else-manner of dress, posture, hair care, time of the next appointment, sleep-were relegated to afterthought. His default expression was one of mildly skeptical consideration, as if perusing the menu at an overpriced restaurant.
For the past three decades, he had been a sort of backstage eminence in the Washington hierarchy, an important man to more important men. That was about to change. But at this moment, Paul Dundes Wolfowitz was just another vulnerable federal employee standing under an empty blue sky with the ruins of his office building before him.
A half hour before, he had just concluded a breakfast in the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and nine
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Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee. At some point during the breakfast, Rumsfeld had predicted that, while Americans were currently luxuriating in peacetime, "an event somewhere in the world will be sufficiently shocking that it will remind the American people and their representatives in Washington how important it is for us to have a strong national defense." Rumsfeld was given to such proclamations, at once sage and lacking in utility. The remark did not take on any added significance a few minutes after he uttered it, when a military aide handed Rumsfeld a Post-it note informing the secretary that some type of aircraft had apparently struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Eventually, after several helpless minutes on the parade grounds, Wolfowitz insisted to his aides that he be allowed to return inside. They escorted him to the National Military Command Center, in the basement. Rumsfeld was already there, along with Richard Myers, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. They were discussing United Flight 93, which had just crashed "somewhere northeast of Camp David," according to the Air Force's Northeast Air Defense Sector. At issue was whether to elevate the nation's threat level to DEFCON 3. Jet fuel fumes had overtaken the entire building. The command center was filling up with senior Army personnel whose offices had just been destroyed. Reports were coming in-among them that an explosion had taken place outside the White House. Recognizing that Rumsfeld was sixth in line to the presidency, military officers anxiously informed the secretary that he needed to leave the Pentagon. Rumsfeld refused.
Wolfowitz saw their plaintive expressions. He murmured to his boss, "You and Myers should really get out of here."
Rumsfeld ignored him. After a few minutes, the deputy secretary tried again. Then a third time.
The secretary then snapped, "No, you've got to get out of here."
<
Eventually, after several helpless minutes on the parade grounds, Wolfowitz insisted to his aides that he be allowed to return inside. They escorted him to the National Military Command Center, in the basement. Rumsfeld was already there, along with Richard Myers, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. They were discussing United Flight 93, which had just crashed "somewhere northeast of Camp David," according to the Air Force's Northeast Air Defense Sector. At issue was whether to elevate the nation's threat level to DEFCON 3. Jet fuel fumes had overtaken the entire building. The command center was filling up with senior Army personnel whose offices had just been destroyed. Reports were coming in-among them that an explosion had taken place outside the White House. Recognizing that Rumsfeld was sixth in line to the presidency, military officers anxiously informed the secretary that he needed to leave the Pentagon. Rumsfeld refused.
Wolfowitz saw their plaintive expressions. He murmured to his boss, "You and Myers should really get out of here."
Rumsfeld ignored him. After a few minutes, the deputy secretary tried again. Then a third time.
The secretary then snapped, "No, you've got to get out of here."
<
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Autoren-Porträt von Robert Draper
Robert Draper is a writer at large for the New York Times Magazine and a contributing writer to National Geographic. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush. He lives in Washington, DC.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Robert Draper
- 2021, 496 Seiten, Maße: 14,2 x 21,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: PENGUIN BOOKS
- ISBN-10: 0525561064
- ISBN-13: 9780525561064
- Erscheinungsdatum: 04.08.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Engrossing . . . Draper s book brought a tightening to my chest. . . . [T]he most consequential tragedy of our times and an essential lesson for the future. New York Review of Books In his new book, To Start A War, Robert Draper chronicles the internal deliberations and dynamics that led the Bush administration into Iraq. In doing so, Draper reminds us of the through-line between the [Bush and Trump] administrations: A toxic contempt for the government itself. Ezra Klein, Vox.com
The serial mistruths, mistakes and misperceptions about Iraq s supposed weapons of mass destruction and alleged support for Al Qaeda are laid out in devastating detail in Robert Draper s authoritative new book, To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq . . . Draper has written a compelling narrative of just how calamitous an ideology-first approach to fact-finding can be in the White House, and why Americans were so badly deluded . . . the most comprehensive account yet of that smoldering wreck of foreign policy, one that haunts us today. Los Angeles Times
Draper manages to be both empathetic and ruthless in his judgements of the key administration players: an impressive feat. An urgent book. Robert D. Kaplan, Spectator Best Books of 2020
Draper has performed prodigious research, including conducting interviews with several hundred former national security officials and scrutinizing recently declassified government documents . . . [He] offers the most comprehensive account of the administration s road to war . . . Draper provides a timely reminder of the dangers of embarking upon wars that can imperil America itself. New York Times
The road to Baghdad is judiciously chronicled by Robert Draper in his important new book, To Start a War. Draper is a natural storyteller. Survival: Global Politics and Strategy
Watching Bush make oil portraits, weep at funerals,
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condemn police brutality, and slip mints to Michelle Obama, it s easy to forget why Bush left office in 2009 as the least popular president since Richard Nixon. Robert Draper s marvelous new book, To Start a War, brings it all rushing back . . . Drawing on declassified documents and hundreds of hours of interviews with key insiders . . . Draper delivers a scathing portrait . . . [with] exquisite narrative pacing. Air Mail
Compelling and richly documented . . . As we continue to live through the ripple effects of this momentous decision in American foreign policy, Draper s revelatory account deserves a wide readership. BookPage
This authoritative investigation of how critical foreign policy should not be made . . . the definitive contemporary account of the origins of the War in Iraq. Library Journal (starred review)
"Engrossing . . . Draper s psychological insights, well-crafted narrative, and colorful details spotlight the human complexity behind this tragic episode. The history of the Iraq War has rarely been told with so much authority and precision. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
An authoritative account of the background to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. . . The true believers got everything wrong. . . Today, almost everyone has changed their minds, and the trillions of dollars wasted would be useful right now. A painful yet gripping, essential account of a disastrous series of decisions. Kirkus (starred review)
A piercing, unprecedented account by one of the great journalists of our time about the George W. Bush administration s chaotic decisions and indecisions, the people who tried to keep us out and the charlatans who snookered others that led to the most consequential foreign policy fiasco in modern history. Elizabeth Drew, author of fourteen books, including Politics and Money: The New Road to Corruption and Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon s Downfall
The full measure of America s misadventure in Iraq has finally been weighed in this wise, unsparing, and invaluable narrative. Deeply researched and crisply written, To Start a War stands among the best works of history in modern times. Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October
Compelling and richly documented . . . As we continue to live through the ripple effects of this momentous decision in American foreign policy, Draper s revelatory account deserves a wide readership. BookPage
This authoritative investigation of how critical foreign policy should not be made . . . the definitive contemporary account of the origins of the War in Iraq. Library Journal (starred review)
"Engrossing . . . Draper s psychological insights, well-crafted narrative, and colorful details spotlight the human complexity behind this tragic episode. The history of the Iraq War has rarely been told with so much authority and precision. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
An authoritative account of the background to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. . . The true believers got everything wrong. . . Today, almost everyone has changed their minds, and the trillions of dollars wasted would be useful right now. A painful yet gripping, essential account of a disastrous series of decisions. Kirkus (starred review)
A piercing, unprecedented account by one of the great journalists of our time about the George W. Bush administration s chaotic decisions and indecisions, the people who tried to keep us out and the charlatans who snookered others that led to the most consequential foreign policy fiasco in modern history. Elizabeth Drew, author of fourteen books, including Politics and Money: The New Road to Corruption and Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon s Downfall
The full measure of America s misadventure in Iraq has finally been weighed in this wise, unsparing, and invaluable narrative. Deeply researched and crisply written, To Start a War stands among the best works of history in modern times. Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October
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