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Bob Woodward's new book attacks Bush's credibility
(Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, September 30, 2006)
The Bush administration has misled the American people about the level of violence in Iraq, where there is an attack by insurgent forces every 15 minutes, Bob Woodward, the investigative journalist, said yesterday. . . . In a new book, State of Denial, Woodward argues that the White House disregarded warnings from advisers in the autumn of 2003 that it needed thousands more troops to put down the insurgency. He says the administration continues to deny the gravity of the situation in Iraq because of Mr Bush's conviction that it was right to go to war. . . . "It's getting to the point now where there are 800-900 attacks a week. That's more than a hundred a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces," . . . Woodward argues the administration routinely glosses over such news from the ground, as well as intelligence predicting further deterioration in Iraq, because they collide with Mr Bush's convictions. . . . The White House failed to act on a memo from Robert Blackwill, then the senior Iraqi adviser on the National Security Council, calling for 40,000 additional troops in Iraq, he writes. It is equally resistant to intelligence forecasts of worsening violence in the year ahead. . . . "The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon [saying], 'Oh, no, things are going to get better'," Woodward told CBS.

ALSO SEE: Bush 'concealing Iraq violence'
(Justin Webb, BBC News, September 29, 2006)
In a preview interview he also revealed that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has become a frequent adviser to President Bush. . . . one eye-catching and politically damaging claim that the true extent of the violence in Iraq is being hidden. . . . "Now, there's public and then there's private, but what do they do with the private - they stamp it secret. No-one's supposed to know," Mr Woodward said. . . . He added that the insurgents knew how effective they were - but the US public did not. . . . He's back. In fact Henry Kissinger is almost like a member of the family. If he is in town he can call up and if the President's free he will see him," Mr Woodward said. . . . He added that Mr Kissinger's message was that victory was the only meaningful exit strategy. . . . "So fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam war again," Mr Woodward added.

posted by LoZo 6:47 PM