Woodward Hasn't Slowed Bush War Push

Bush Defends Decisions In Wake Of Journalist's Claim That Even Mrs. Bush Wanted To Oust Rumsfeld

(CBS)  President Bush isn’t letting the publicity around Bob Woodward’s new book derail his push to garner support for the Iraq War, nor is he commenting on the book’s claims that Laura Bush supported efforts to oust Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The book, "State Of Denial," offers a harsh analysis of the Bush administration's handling of the war.

In his weekly radio address, President Bush defended his wartime decisions and fought back against charges that a recently leaked National Intelligence Estimate report shows that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism.

"Some in Washington have selectively quoted from this document to make the case that by fighting the terrorists in Iraq, we are making our people less secure here at home," Mr. Bush said. "Five years after the 9/11 attacks, some people in Washington still do not understand the nature of the enemy. The only way to protect our citizens at home is to go on the offense against the enemy across the world."

Woodward writes in his new book of fierce efforts inside the White House to get rid of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a revelation that has caused a tremendous amount of concern at the White House.

In Mike Wallace’s interview with Woodward, to be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. ET/PT, the reporter also claims that Henry Kissinger is among those advising Mr. Bush.

Woodward writes that several people inside the White House have pushed to oust Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The ranks of those calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation included the president's then Chief of Staff, Andy Card, apparently with the backing of First Lady Laura Bush.

As CBS News correspondent David Martin reports, Woodward tells Wallace that after President Bush was re-elected, Card tried for months to convince the president to fire Rumsfeld.

"It wasn’t working. Card felt very strongly that the president needed a whole new national security team," Woodward tells Wallace.

Laura Bush was also worried that Rumsfeld was hurting her husband, Martin reports. When Andy Card told her that the president seemed happy with Rumsfeld, Woodward says that Mrs. Bush replied, "He's happy with this, but I'm not." Later, she said, "I don’t know why he’s not upset."

"What’s interesting, Andy Card, as White House Chief of Staff, every six weeks set up a one-on-one meeting with Laura Bush. And in the course of these sessions, the problem with Rumsfeld came up, and she voiced her concern about the situation," Woodward tells Wallace.

The First Lady’s office says that's not true, Martin reports, but according to Woodward, Card had at least one other high-level ally: Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell, who himself was leaving the administration, told Card, "If I go, Don should go." But the vice president thought differently.

“Rumsfeld’s his guy. And Cheney confided to an aide that if Rumsfeld goes, next they’ll be after Cheney,” Woodward tells Wallace.

It’s not clear that Rumsfeld knew what Card was up to, but in an interview with Woodward, the Defense Secretary said he told Card that after the election, he would be happy to stay or go, depending on what the president wanted. The president has that he had no intention of changing him.

In the end, it was Card, not Rumsfeld, who left. Rumsfeld hosted a farewell dinner in his honor.

These efforts to get rid of Rumsfeld, apparently continue to this day, CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports. A top Republican strategist told CBS News today that just this week, he heard the president say, "I know the way to keep Americans’ support for the war is to fire Don Rumsfeld. I am not going to do that. It's not going to happen."

Not surprisingly, revelations from the book are causing a tremendous amount of concern at the White House, mostly because what Woodward writes is read and believed, not just in Washington, but all across the country, CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

Friday, the administration hit back.

“There's a whole lot of stuff here. You know, in a lot of ways, the book's certainly cotton candy. It, kind of, melts on contact. We've read this book before,” Snow said.

Woodward also says that the Bush administration has not told the truth regarding the level of violence, especially against U.S. troops, in Iraq. He reveals key intelligence that predicts the insurgency will grow worse next year.

According to Woodward, insurgent attacks against coalition troops occur, on average, every 15 minutes, a shocking fact the administration has kept secret. "It’s getting to the point now where there are 8, 900 attacks a week. That's more than 100 a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces," says Woodward.

[trueprogress]

I agree with DHuff. Just look at today's news. The terrible evil deed to those Penn. girls is second story to a very minor scandal, played up to hurt the Republicans at election time.

And...the news media has this selective outrage ... Where is the same real outrage at Rep Jefferson Dem La, (stassed bribe money in freezer, diverted National Guard to his home during Katrina and more) why is he still in Congress ? Where is CBS outrage there ?
Could the press be biased ? NAW.

[dhuffstutler]

A question to the American media.

Is it the truth to say that nothing positive has change in Iraq?

Is the American media giving fuel to the insurgents to keep the attacks going by only reporting these attacks?
I'm not saying the reports should stop, but our enemies watch the reports and know that only the attacks are reported. Do we ever see a positive report in our media? The constant negative media reports toward's our leadership and the war fits into their game plan. If this all we hear or see they know their style of warfare is winning. Changing our collective minds. We never see the flip side. The good that our troops have done. The positive changes in Iraq. What about the improvements, their schools, their hospitals, or the positive changes to the lives in areas outside of the capital. Since the journalist stay in Bagdahd the insurgent have an ally that helps their cause because of the continous negative reports.
Bob Woodward's book is just another book written to capitalize on what seems to be the norm today. Bash the leadership of our country show the insurgent that what they are doing is working. Stay the course with this type of media and they will win. It worked thirty years ago, it will work again. DHuffstutler, AZ

[jjanes123]

"Offense is the best defense"....

Imagine that you are in a defensive position. You have a tight circle of soldiers, lets say 100 to make it simple. Without any warning a grenade goes off in a tent in your area. At the same time someone starts firing at your men. You basically have two choices. First you can stand up and scream "Go get 'em" And run blind into the night after the enemy. This is the bush course of action. Now you have a hundred soldier, many without good supervision, running around blind killing people. So let's examine the second choice. You rally and regroup, you have a good area to defend so you stay there. You watch and wait and use your long range attack capabilities to destroy your enemy. This is the route that should have been taken. In that actual situation it's what military planning calls for. So basically we need to get our troops home and Stop throwing money at the problem in hopes that it will go away. One of these days someone important is going to notice that all of our military resources are scatted around the globe and then we will really see what a bad attack look like.

Let's end it, and end it now

[exusmcsgt]

Hamiltongrad complains about "Bush bashing". Apparently he/she thinks that 2,707 American dead and $500B squandered just to foment a civil war deserves praise......

I'll ask you hamiltongrad, how much is downright stubborness worth to you? 10,000 American dead? Another 20 years of this? 10 trillion dollars? We obviously haven't lost/spent enough for you to date. What's a fair price for this boondoogle in your mind?

[exusmcsgt]

Iraq was never about WMD. Bush, et.al. viewed Iraq as a means to project power in the middle east. Situated between Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, it was the logical choice from which to project power. The U.S. has built 4 large permanent bases in Iraq for our use to that end.

Bush et.al. could never sell the concept on its own merits, so we got a succession of false motives. This all about pure, unadulterated American hegemony - nothing more, nothing less.

Add to this hegemony, Americas absolute support of Israel in the horrific treatment of the Palestinians, and you can see why our policies are detested in the middle east.

A good president divides our enemies and unites our allies. Bush et.al. have done just the reverse.

hamiltongrad wrote:

"Why is it all Bush bashing all the time ?"

"Can someone please write about the Kennedy Family Trust located in....Tahiti of all places. Why there? How much inheritance tax paid. Please CBS and Bob Woodward look into this and report. Talk about hypocracy of the Left."

Quite possibly because the Kennedy Families fortune isn't responsible for the deaths of Americans.

Typical though - Right wingers concerned more about money then the lives of Americans.

Pathetic.

[alphaa10-2009]

Sledge said-- "hamiltongrad nailed it. If we weren't overseas fighting them, we'd be fighting them right here. 9/11 showed that spectacularly."

Actually, 911 shows nothing of the kind-- you are one of a diminishing circle of victims of the delusion 911 had anything to do with Iraq. Even Bush now admits 911 has no relation to Iraq.

Bush did not fight al Qaeda effectively even when congress and the American people told him explicitly to do so-- "they" were in Afghanistan, but Bush actually stopped fighting al Qaeda to pull American units into place for Iraq. Bush (not Clinton) is the one who failed to pull the trigger when he had the best fix on bin Laden in years of effort, and blew it.

Ironically, the wasted effort in Iraq is actually creating a stronger al Qaeda, which now regards Iraq as its showpiece and demonstration project of success against the "crusaders". Thanks to the ineptitude Bush showed after 911, al Qaeda survived to take root globally. You fail to see al Qaeda does not need Iraq as an operations base-- even 911 came from a Hamburg-based cell, and the cell model has been copied worldwide.

Wrong battlefield, wrong tactics, and leaders who mislead-- all part of the Bush "going away gift" to the American people.

[alphaa10-2009]

exusmcsgt said-- "Like roaches, terrorism is defeated when you stop their breeding (recruitment)."

Although people who believe they are fighting a "holy war" against "crusader" powers would characterize themselves differently, exusmcsgt is exactly right. The key to winning, as with fighting a fire, is to subtract one or more elements of the conflagration.

However, Bush, Cheney and other deadheads like Rumsfeld seem to have only reinforced concrete for brains-- they do not realize their Iraqi military disaster is, itself, a threat to America. Our tax dollars are training locals over the whole MidEast to hate us with passion that will carry them back to NYC and beyond-- this is one theater is which military equipment does not apply.

Without understanding the dynamics of what he has set in motion, this wannabe president sees only one possible response to the threat he helped aggravate-- Big Brother-level governmental security controls over the American people. The Gestapo (or Saddam's own police) would have been delighted to have the equipment Bush is prepared to install to monitor Americans.

[exusmcsgt]

Terrorism has never been and never will be defeated through conventional military action. Ask the Colombians and the Phillipinos - they've been at it for forty years without success.

We have a tremendous military. As was stated on 'The McGlaughlin Group', "it's a hammer". Hammers are not effective tools against roaches, however.

Like roaches, terrorism is defeated when you stop their breeding (recruitment).

[bfuddled-2009]

9/11 showed how incredibly unprepared this administration was to fight terrorism.

Democrats may or may not understand that this is a "different kind of war", but I think the spectacular failures of this administration in trying to conduct this war shows that they definitely don't know how to fight it. For starters, if you're going to fight the terrorists go where they are. Afghanistan: right on. Iraq: didn't have them until we removed Saddam.

hamiltongrad nailed it. If we weren't overseas fighting them, we'd be fighting them right here. 9/11 showed that spectacularly.

www.politipoll.net

[besscannon-2009]

Isn't it amazing how everybody else in the world are liars but the Republicans? At least, that is what they would have you believe. Don't they realize how all their needles are stuck in the same groove? After the election, if the Democrats take over and open that closet of skeletons, I'll bet the stench is going to be mighty powerful. I'll bet were are in for more shocking facts then we now know.Our Government reminds me of the Chicago Mafia.

[newsjeff-2009]

Isn't it sweet that our President's family is telling him how to fight the war on terrorism. I am not saying I dislike the first lady or the president(Note: The current president not the Clintons ABC likes to put all the blames on for past mistakes.)but, if the soldiers are the ones fighting this war the least the Bush administration can do is back Rumsfeld or any of the other top people in charge of military operations. I believe in women's rights and the fact that behind many successful men are a successful,caring wife, but as important as the war on terrorism is we cannot go to just blaming Rumsfeld or other top military people just because the public does not like the war and people believe that we are on the wrong path. The main thing I am saying is President Bush and the First Lady Laura Bush and the Vice-president and the entire GOP need be more united and on the same page of thinking were the "war on terrorism" is concerned if we hope to win this conflict and bring Bin Laden and his followers to justice and our troops to come home safe.

[gr8american]

bob woodward doesnt have an agenda to push, read the book before you jump to conclusions. in the meantime pray for the future of our country, it looks like we might need it.

It's interesting to see all the Republicans bleating whenever someone says something bad about Bush and his cohorts.

For some reason they same to believe that negative comments about Republicans are all just a conspiracy of lies - meanwhile, they feel they can say whatever they want about Democrats.

Talk about being delusional/paranoid.

Whatever happened to voting for the best person for the job instead of two idiotic political parties that are only interested in helping themselves?

gentlearts wrote:

"Bob Woodward's book is just another "tool" trotted out to try to slant the upcoming elections.
As usual, the Dem's can't win on substance, so all they can do is smear the Republicans."

It's incredibly hypocritical to condemn one party for doing it without condemning the other for doing the same.

Have you forgotten all the smear campaigns initiated by Republicans against Democrats?

Especially against that idiot Clinton?

Republicans do not have the moral high ground when it comes to smear campaigns.

In this case, it will be interesting to see if Woodwards comments hold true - and are in fact, fact.

I have more respect for him then any politican.

My comment here is that this just shows that Cheney is in charge here...not "W". they donot have a clue that this man (Rumsfeld) was the worst and youngest DOD secretary and now the oldest and still the worst DOD Secretary.

[drgoodwin12]

To gdmoore2 I have to agree and would also like to state that stay the course is as bad as cut and run.Colin Powell said "we broke it ,we have to fix it"I wholeheartily agree with.The problem is multifolde in answering how to fix it.The Iraqi goverment,military and police (not all) are working with the militias,insurgents and terrorist.This is where we have to take a tough stance,second the problem of recruitment of terrorist,militias and insurgents has to be adressed with a comphrensive determent strategy.Lastly is our military action which has to be carried out with sensitivity towards their culture,the rapes and deliberate killings of civilians does not help us.

[soulizard]

Nobody likes to see an investment go bad, monetary, intellectual, spiritual or otherwise. But the fact is the Bush administration has put everything on the line in Iraq with disastrous results. It believes, wrongly, that by using the weight of its political power it can somehow overcome the serious losses to our political standing abroad and economic stability at home the Iraq war has caused. All the relentless shaming of those who oppose them reminds me of a desperate gambler who has placed all their money on a long shot and is losing. Meanwhile we are losing our young Americans and killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians just to save their political skins. Disgusting and very sad.

[dreamslug]

Woodward is an honorable journalist of the highest integrity! His two previous books even show Bush in a favorable light. Yet we see here "conservative hit-men" writing how Woodward is merely spinning propoganda at a convenient time, because they don't like what Woodward writes.
Conservative hypocrites in perpetual denial need to be put on notice: The State of Denial that you live in is now the Flood of Denial, heading straight over the falls on your "Stay the Course" rhetoric. Woodward leads us once again, to rise like true Americans of courage and to speak truth to power. Our children are dying, and Bush, the incompetent or treasonous cause of it, is attempting to subvert our Constitution of the United States to try and get away with it. It's over buddy, wake up!