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 14
... chief of staff had no life, in Chicago or Washington. On the Saturday before the election, Obama told him, “Rahm, you have to do this.” This was no longer a matter of choice. “I'm going to make you do it. I'm going to be president of ...
... chief of staff had no life, in Chicago or Washington. On the Saturday before the election, Obama told him, “Rahm, you have to do this.” This was no longer a matter of choice. “I'm going to make you do it. I'm going to be president of ...
Page 16
... staff called him “The Legend of Iraq.” Colleagues believed that Petraeus was so competitive that he preferred ... chief of staff of the Army, had an extraordinary pipeline to both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. But Petraeus had ...
... staff called him “The Legend of Iraq.” Colleagues believed that Petraeus was so competitive that he preferred ... chief of staff of the Army, had an extraordinary pipeline to both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. But Petraeus had ...
Page 19
... staff from 1974 to 1979 and after Ronald Reagan's election became the chief CIA Soviet analyst, executive assistant to CIA Director William J. Casey and later Casey's chief deputy. In 1987, Reagan nominated Gates to be CIA director but ...
... staff from 1974 to 1979 and after Ronald Reagan's election became the chief CIA Soviet analyst, executive assistant to CIA Director William J. Casey and later Casey's chief deputy. In 1987, Reagan nominated Gates to be CIA director but ...
Page 32
... Staff. Though putatively the highest-ranking military man, in reality the ... chief, to the secretary of defense to combatant commanders such as CentCom's ... chief of naval operations in 2007, when Gates hastily decided Pace did not have ...
... Staff. Though putatively the highest-ranking military man, in reality the ... chief, to the secretary of defense to combatant commanders such as CentCom's ... chief of naval operations in 2007, when Gates hastily decided Pace did not have ...
Page 40
... chief of staff. He was a member of nearly every council, advisory board, group or institute that dealt with foreign affairs, and had served as co-head of the transition team for the State Department. His friendship with Emanuel went ...
... chief of staff. He was a member of nearly every council, advisory board, group or institute that dealt with foreign affairs, and had served as co-head of the transition team for the State Department. His friendship with Emanuel went ...
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