Obama's WarsIn Obama’s Wars, Bob Woodward provides the most intimate and sweeping portrait yet of the young president as commander in chief. Drawing on internal memos, classified documents, meeting notes and hundreds of hours of interviews with most of the key players, including the president, Woodward tells the inside story of Obama making the critical decisions on the Afghanistan War, the secret campaign in Pakistan and the worldwide fight against terrorism. At the core of Obama’s Wars is the unsettled division between the civilian leadership in the White House and the United States military as the president is thwarted in his efforts to craft an exit plan for the Afghanistan War. “So what’s my option?” the president asked his war cabinet, seeking alternatives to the Afghanistan commander’s request for 40,000 more troops in late 2009. “You have essentially given me one option. ...It’s unacceptable.” “Well,” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates finally said, “Mr. President, I think we owe you that option.” It never came. An untamed Vice President Joe Biden pushes relentlessly to limit the military mission and avoid another Vietnam. The vice president frantically sent half a dozen handwritten memos by secure fax to Obama on the eve of the final troop decision. President Obama’s ordering a surge of 30,000 troops and pledging to start withdrawing U.S. forces by July 2011 did not end the skirmishing. General David Petraeus, the new Afghanistan commander, thinks time can be added to the clock if he shows progress. “I don’t think you win this war,” Petraeus said privately. “This is the kind of fight we’re in for the rest of our lives and probably our kids’ lives.” Hovering over this debate is the possibility of another terrorist attack in the United States. The White House led a secret exercise showing how unprepared the government is if terrorists set off a nuclear bomb in an American city—which Obama told Woodward is at the top of the list of what he worries about all the time. Verbatim quotes from secret debates and White House strategy sessions—and firsthand accounts of the thoughts and concerns of the president, his war council and his generals—reveal a government in conflict, often consumed with nasty infighting and fundamental disputes. Woodward has discovered how the Obama White House really works, showing that even more tough decisions lie ahead for the cerebral and engaged president. Obama’s Wars offers the reader a stunning, you-are-there account of the president, his White House aides, military leaders, diplomats and intelligence chiefs in this time of turmoil and danger. |
From inside the book
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Page 16
... Gates had flown to Baghdad to declare that Petraeus had overseen a near-miracle. The evening before the formal change of command, Petraeus was treated to a testimonial dinner. It was more like an Academy Awards ceremony, ending with a ...
... Gates had flown to Baghdad to declare that Petraeus had overseen a near-miracle. The evening before the formal change of command, Petraeus was treated to a testimonial dinner. It was more like an Academy Awards ceremony, ending with a ...
Page 18
... Gates, whom President Bush had brought into the Pentagon two years earlier to salvage the Iraq War. Gates, 65, knew Washington, the White House, Bob Woodward 18.
... Gates, whom President Bush had brought into the Pentagon two years earlier to salvage the Iraq War. Gates, 65, knew Washington, the White House, Bob Woodward 18.
Page 19
... Gates to be CIA director but Gates withdrew because of too many questions about the Iran-contra scandal and his relationship with Casey. In his 1996 memoir, From the Shadows, he made it clear he had learned about public humiliation ...
... Gates to be CIA director but Gates withdrew because of too many questions about the Iran-contra scandal and his relationship with Casey. In his 1996 memoir, From the Shadows, he made it clear he had learned about public humiliation ...
Page 20
... Gates was liked in the Congress, and he seemed to be dismantling the Rumsfeld autocracy. All the signs were that this was a straight shooter. Gates was aware of the speculation that Obama might ask him to stay. His public position was ...
... Gates was liked in the Congress, and he seemed to be dismantling the Rumsfeld autocracy. All the signs were that this was a straight shooter. Gates was aware of the speculation that Obama might ask him to stay. His public position was ...
Page 22
... Gates ordered the Pentagon to begin buying the ballistic steel even before it was decided which company would build the MRAPs. Instead of taking the money out of the budgets of the services, Gates asked Congress for more than $20 ...
... Gates ordered the Pentagon to begin buying the ballistic steel even before it was decided which company would build the MRAPs. Instead of taking the money out of the budgets of the services, Gates asked Congress for more than $20 ...
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