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Of History and War
Oct. 2nd, 2004 06:36 pm~
"That day, after two hours, we stood in the Oval Office and started to walk out. Darkness was beginning to settle in outside. The upcoming presidential election would perhaps be the most immediate judgment on the war, but certainly not the last. How would history judge his Iraq War? I asked.
It would be impossible to get the meaning right in the short run, the president said, adding he thought it would take about ten years to understand the impact and the true significance of the war.
There will probably be cycles, I said. As Karl Rove believes, I reminded him, all history gets measured by outcomes.
Bush smiled. "History," he said, shrugging, taking his hands out of his pockets, extending his arms out and suggesting with his body language that it was so far off. "We won't know. We'll all be dead."
-- Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward
Monk finished what should be the last of his books on the War on Terror, at least for a while, though Seymour Hersh's Chain of Command is a little tempting. Woodward's book is some more inside glimpses behind this history in the making, whatever may come of this madness.
As for the quote above, how one sees it probably depends on how one feels about Bush, of course. The discussion closes the book, and Woodward and Dubya are discussing how the success of the Bush Administration is likely to depend on the Iraq War, with Bush standing on his willingness to be only a one-term president if he should lose to Kerry because of Iraq, believing in this cause that strongly. Is he too cavalier, or does he have 'the big picture' perspective of the great leader?
In addition to scenes showing the rift between Defense and State, with Powell being something of the odd man out in the top policymaking circle anent the Iraq War, as well as scenes of Bush working with other leaders and working up his own resolve within the Administration, one will quote what strikes Monk as a very awkward scene of Bush visiting Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
( Woodward excerpt )
.
"That day, after two hours, we stood in the Oval Office and started to walk out. Darkness was beginning to settle in outside. The upcoming presidential election would perhaps be the most immediate judgment on the war, but certainly not the last. How would history judge his Iraq War? I asked.
It would be impossible to get the meaning right in the short run, the president said, adding he thought it would take about ten years to understand the impact and the true significance of the war.
There will probably be cycles, I said. As Karl Rove believes, I reminded him, all history gets measured by outcomes.
Bush smiled. "History," he said, shrugging, taking his hands out of his pockets, extending his arms out and suggesting with his body language that it was so far off. "We won't know. We'll all be dead."
-- Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward
Monk finished what should be the last of his books on the War on Terror, at least for a while, though Seymour Hersh's Chain of Command is a little tempting. Woodward's book is some more inside glimpses behind this history in the making, whatever may come of this madness.
As for the quote above, how one sees it probably depends on how one feels about Bush, of course. The discussion closes the book, and Woodward and Dubya are discussing how the success of the Bush Administration is likely to depend on the Iraq War, with Bush standing on his willingness to be only a one-term president if he should lose to Kerry because of Iraq, believing in this cause that strongly. Is he too cavalier, or does he have 'the big picture' perspective of the great leader?
In addition to scenes showing the rift between Defense and State, with Powell being something of the odd man out in the top policymaking circle anent the Iraq War, as well as scenes of Bush working with other leaders and working up his own resolve within the Administration, one will quote what strikes Monk as a very awkward scene of Bush visiting Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
.
