When many thought that the greying Robert Upshur “Bob” Woodward, one of the best-known investigative journalists in the United States, was leading a comfy life away from the harsh realities of the world, here comes his new book State of Denial. His ‘investigative’ spirit is probably still alive.
Thanks largely to Woodward’s work (in a historical partnership with Carl Bernstein while working as a reporter for The Washington Post) in helping uncover the Watergate scandal, the then President Richard Nixon had to resign. Woodward crowned the success of his mission by writing the book All the President’s Men
But that was 1974. Woodward was 31-year-old then, and President Bush 28. Although today it is a changed United States of America, the cardinal issues remain the same — obstruction of justice, abuse of power and freedom of expression. At the moment it may appear that President Bush is managing well by steam-rolling over any dissenting voices. However, the day of reckoning cannot be wished away.
Woodward’s recent book State of Denial comes exactly 30 years after he wrote All the President’s Men. Interestingly, he wrote The Final Days two years later in 1976. Will he be also writing about President Bush’s ‘final days’ two years hence?
Now about his new book. “It’s getting to the point now where there are 800-900 attacks a week (in Iraq). That’s more than a hundred a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces,” Woodward told CBS television in an interview to be aired tomorrow night, says The Guardian.
“In this, his third book on the administration, Woodward relies on the off-the-record interviews with US officials that have become his trademark. But unlike his earlier chronicles of the White House, Woodward did not have access to Mr Bush or Mr Cheney.”
Reacting to the book, Mr Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, was at his ambivalent best in his convoluted remarks perfectly reverberating His Master’s Voice: “Look, this is a war, and you are going to have a lot of really smart people with completely different opinions,” said at a briefing on Friday afternoon.
“In Washington, Mr. Snow said, ‘you’re going to see people who are on the losing side of arguments being especially outspoken about their opinions.’ He added, “The average Washington memoir ought to be subtitled, If they only listened to me.
“But Mr. Snow had difficulty explaining why President Bush had failed to listen to such a broad range of officials who had called for more troops, including Robert D. Blackwill, the former top Iraq adviser, and L. Paul Bremer III, the senior American official running the occupation.
“Nor did Mr. Snow explain why Mr. Bush’s upbeat assessments of a ‘Plan for Victory’ in Iraq, laid out in speeches late last year, contrasted so sharply with the contents of classified memorandums written by officials who warned that failure was also a significant possibility.”
Newsweek has this to say: “There are few journalists in Washington who can throw the White House off its stride: Bob Woodward is one of them. Woodward’s new book, State of Denial, paints a damning picture of White House policy in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion.
“The arrival of a Woodward Tome has become a kind of biennial ritual in Washington. The last two, which detailed the Afghan war and the successful early invasion of Iraq, were fairly kind to the president and his staff. But this was a different kind of book, and the administration was already bracing for a rougher ride.”
You can find out more about State of Denial and buy it here.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.