[Rick Lee]

Cowtown, I agree that Woodward was extra charitable to the WH in the last two books. I'm not questioning his character. I'm just a little confused by his about face. Other than the amazing access to all the players, it's hard to tell all three books were written by the same guy.

Rumsfeld is an interesting character indeed. Love him or hate him, you can't call the guy dull or lazy. I've been around him a little and he is just like the book describes him. After Bush leaves office, I would love to see Woodward and Tom Clancy team up to write a book about the Pentagon culture and how to reform it. Rumsfeld, like Bush and Cheney, is one of those guys who just doesn't care about being liked. And I think that's something to look for in a reformer with a huge, entrenched bureaucracy to fix. So far I think Jay Garner left way too early and Paul Bremer made a few irrepairable errors. But again, I'm only halfway through it.

Bandar plays a huge role in many of Woodward's books, which seems to go unnoticed outside the Beltway. His successor, Turki al Faisal was one of my dad's classmates at prep school, so my dad and I are always forwarding each other mentions of him in news clippings. But I don't think Turki can ever replace Bandar. Maybe that's a good thing though, as Bandar had an almost scary amount of influence in the last 3-4 WH's.