Richard Clarke's description of George W. Bush

"From the interactions I did have with Bush it was clear that the critique of him as a dumb, lazy rich kid were somewhat off the mark. When he focused, he asked the kind of questions that revealed a results-orientated mind, but he looked for the simple solution, the bumper sticker description of the problem. Once he had that, he couldput energy behind a drive to achieve his goal. The problem was that many of the important issues, like terrorism, like Iraq, were laced with important subtlety and nuance. These issues needed analysis and Bush and his inner circle had no real interest in complicated analyses; on the issues that they cared about, they already knew the answers..."

pg.243 - Against All Enemies - Richard A. Clarke
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I couldn't have said it better myself. Just finished the book and recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet.

... if one can only apply simple, formulaic remedies to problems at odds with one's fixed and predetermined opinions, when those problems require more intellectual flexibility than that, one is destined to fail.

all the facts that makes them an idiot in my book.

This was a good post. Clarke's book is definitely a must read for those interested in the history, causes and potential solutions to terrorism. I also highly recommend "Imperial Hubris" by Michael Scheuer aka Anonymous.

international relations.