Plan of Attack was published by Simon & Schuster in April 2004, one year after the invasion of Iraq. The book traces the decision-making process from November 21, 2001 — when Bush privately asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to begin updating war plans for Iraq — through the invasion on March 19, 2003. Woodward had access to Bush himself, who sat for three and a half hours of on-the-record interviews, as well as to most of the senior officials involved in the decision.
The book’s most significant revelation is the timeline. The public debate about Iraq — weapons of mass destruction, UN inspections, the case for war — was conducted throughout 2002 and into early 2003 as though the decision had not yet been made. Woodward’s reporting demonstrates that the decision was effectively made much earlier, that the war planning was well advanced by the summer of 2002, and that the diplomatic efforts at the UN were not genuine alternatives to war but an attempt to build a coalition for a war that was already coming.
The portraits of the key figures are drawn with Woodward’s characteristic detail. Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, is presented as the administration’s reluctant warrior — skeptical of the intelligence, worried about the consequences, but ultimately unwilling to resign or publicly dissent. Dick Cheney is the driving force behind the invasion, convinced that Iraq posed an existential threat and dismissive of arguments to the contrary. Rumsfeld is focused on the military plan, determined to prove that a smaller, faster force could accomplish what the military establishment insisted required overwhelming numbers.
Collecting Plan of Attack
First edition (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2004): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$35
- Very good: $8–$20
- Signed: $40–$100