Donald Rumsfeld's snowflakes. Part 1, The Pentagon and U.S. foreign policy, 2001-2003.

"Donald Rumsfeld's 'snowflakes' are a unique resource, coming directly from the Defense Secretary's desk. This first tranche provides unprecedented insight into the workings of the Pentagon during the early years of the Bush administration. Snowflakes offers glimpses into Rumsfeld's day-to-day concerns covering everything from relations with Russia, China, and other nations to the DOD's strategy and conduct in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to communications with the White House and battles with Pentagon bureaucracy.... The snowflakes give virtually an hour-by-hour chronology of everything on Donald Rumsfeld's agenda as secretary of defense during the most momentous period of national security decisions since the Cold War. They cover topics from the impact of 9/11 to the global war on terror, the hunt for Bin Laden, the war in Afghanistan (now America's longest running war), the invasion and occupation of Iraq, internal conflicts with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and the White House staff, as well as with Colin Powell and the State Department. The snowflakes also provide a unique portrait of the multiplicity of issues facing the defense secretary, from personnel and promotion choices to the administration of military mess halls to controversial advice from outsiders like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to recommended readings Rumsfeld had no time for. The snowflakes and the responses to them from the military and the bureaucracy represent an unprecedented documentary record of every major decision and minor fleeting thought at the highest level of the U.S. government at war."

Online resource; title from title screen (viewed February 23, 2021)