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 xviii
... Leader, Provincial Council of Kandahar; President Karzai's half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai PAKISTAN President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari Chief of Staff of the Army of Pakistan General Ashfaq Kayani Pakistani Ambassador to the United ...
... Leader, Provincial Council of Kandahar; President Karzai's half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai PAKISTAN President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari Chief of Staff of the Army of Pakistan General Ashfaq Kayani Pakistani Ambassador to the United ...
Page 5
... leaders and specific camps , so - called infrastructure targets . It was like attacking an anthill — the survivors would run away in the aftermath . These " squirters " were then tracked to the next hideout , helping to build the ...
... leaders and specific camps , so - called infrastructure targets . It was like attacking an anthill — the survivors would run away in the aftermath . These " squirters " were then tracked to the next hideout , helping to build the ...
Page 7
... leader who had fled Afghanistan after the U.S. attack into his country after 9/11. There had been a $25 million reward on his head ever since. Mullah Omar was in the Pakistani city of Quetta, just about 60 miles from the Afghan border ...
... leader who had fled Afghanistan after the U.S. attack into his country after 9/11. There had been a $25 million reward on his head ever since. Mullah Omar was in the Pakistani city of Quetta, just about 60 miles from the Afghan border ...
Page 9
... leaders were loony. Attempts to nego- tiate with the regime would likely repeat the Bush administration's experience. It would be “negotiate, prevaricate, escalate and renego- tiate,” he said. The North Koreans would talk, they would ...
... leaders were loony. Attempts to nego- tiate with the regime would likely repeat the Bush administration's experience. It would be “negotiate, prevaricate, escalate and renego- tiate,” he said. The North Koreans would talk, they would ...
Page 25
... leaders with drones had a debilitating im- pact on al Qaeda's ability to plan , prepare and train . That counted as a big counterterrorism win . But each strike was tactical and would not change the big picture . As an Air Force officer ...
... leaders with drones had a debilitating im- pact on al Qaeda's ability to plan , prepare and train . That counted as a big counterterrorism win . But each strike was tactical and would not change the big picture . As an Air Force officer ...
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Afghan government al Qaeda American ANSF Army assessment attacks Axelrod background interviews Barack H Biden Blair Bob Woodward brigade called campaign Cartwright chairman chapter comes primarily chief of staff CIA director civilian Clinton commander counterinsurgency counterterrorism decision defeat deputy Donilon Eikenberry Emanuel firsthand sources Gates Geoff Morrell ghan ghanistan goal going Graham guys Haqqani Hayden Helmand province Holbrooke intelligence Iraq Jones July Kandahar Karzai Kayani Lavoy leaders Lute McChrystal McConnell McDonough McKiernan meeting mission months Mullah Omar Mullen national security adviser NATO Obama asked operations option Oval Office Paki Pakistan Panetta Pentagon Petraeus Podesta political President Barack President Bush President Obama presidential primarily from background Qaeda Quetta Riedel safe havens secretary of defense Senate September Situation Room speech stan Taliban insurgents talk terrorist thought tion U.S. troops United vice president wanted Washington Post White House Zardari