A very interesting documentary from the Public Broadcasting Service. Although it's titled "Rumsfeld's War" it actually covered a lot about the Bush administration's decisions in general and internal bouts...mainly cause Rumsfeld was involved in much of it. The most interesting bit, for me, shown was how Rumsfeld had carried out his "transformation" of the military after Vietnam - going for a smaller, more technology dependent military. Also interesting and surprising was to find out that Bush's premptive miltary strategy came from a guy, Paul Wolfowitz who's had this idea since after the Vietnam war. For me, conspiracy theorist, it was interesting to hear some truth (hopefully truthful) about how Iraq and this premptive war strategy is not the by-product of some big business oil conspiracy. Although the program did assert that from the beginning of G.W. Bush's administration, in 2000, he wanted reform in the Middle East. The program also asserted that immediately after Sept 11th, the adminstration saw an "opportunity" to attack Iraq. There was a miff in the adminstration between Colin Powell and others in Bush's cabinet on whether to attack Afghanistan or Iraq first. Afghanistan won out, but the interesting part was that Iraq had always been targeted, something that I've heard of before but never in a credible way. The program made clear that between Powell and Rumsfeld + Dick Cheney there was no agreement in what to do and where to take the future of the military throughout G.W. Bush's 1st administration. All in all, it was an enlightening program and very relevent if you want to understand a bit of how and why the US and its military is where it is today. Because PBS is so awesome, they have extended notes and all the information in the program in text online. They also stream the program at the moment, so you can watch it anytime, online, free. Although I'm no connoisseur of political documentaries, I thought this was a very good, objective documentary that wasn't put together to prove something. PBS is a respectable broadcasting company, and I've heard that Frontline is also a respectable program. Anyone think otherwise? What did you think about it or what it showed? Click "Watch the Full Program Online" on the right side of the page .... to watch it. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pentagon/
It was a good documentary. It reaffirmed the fact that Rumsfeld is a son of a bitch. It was interesting to learn the conflict: Wolfowitz/Rumsfeld/Cheney vs Powell/Shinseki/Franks
Yes, it was a great show. What I found most disturbing was the reversal of everything the army learned in Vietnam. The Powell doctrine represented the sane strategy of avoiding quagmires, having an exit strategy, using overwhelming force, etc.., while Rumsfeld, who should know better, just chucked that all out the door.
