In chapters 5 and 6, we see just how long the Bush administration has planned for the current war in Iraq - since 9/11. They waited about a year to threaten, then another half year to take action, meaning that this was an issue to be extra cautious about and they knew that they wouldn't have very much support. Woodward mentions the possibility of Saddam launching a "terrorist strike or even a limited military strike on U.S. facilities," but how likely and possible was this? There were only dubious hints that he was one of the many behind 9/11, most of which have been disproved, and just about the only connections are the facts that he was glad they happened and he's Middle Eastern. The U.S. and the Bush administration knew this, but it wasn't necessarily for reasons of world safety that we wanted to oust him - he's just a horrible person to be in charge of a country; he's a tyrant over what he can control and his sons are no better, seemingly even worse. Even now that U.S. forces have infiltrated many facilities in Iraq, no WMDs have been found. Iraq has very little means to be a terrorist state, but it's a very bad place to be a citizen while Saddam's in power. The U.S. just likes to be like Bill Gates, giving to the needy so those who might resent us a bit for our power/wealth and how we use it are appeased, not to mention that it makes the American conscience feel better. One might wonder how Operation Iraqi Freedom is charitable to the Iraqi people if so many are dying in the crossfire - our hope is that the sooner a new government is instituted in Iraq, the better, even at the cost of a few lives if it means improving the lives of the rest. .
One thing that's really struck me about this book is Woodward's use of personal anecdotes - on the very first page, we hear about CIA Director George Tenet's background like he's a character from a novel, and in chapter 6, he recounts how Condoleezza Rice cried at "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing at Buckingham Palace, and don't forget about Powell's "don't break down" note to President Bush mentioned on the next page.
