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
Page 18
... White House this afternoon, he headed over to Reagan National Airport. And, while his jet was waiting, he went to the firehouse at National Airport for a long meeting with either a mystery person or persons— a lot of speculation tonight ...
... White House this afternoon, he headed over to Reagan National Airport. And, while his jet was waiting, he went to the firehouse at National Airport for a long meeting with either a mystery person or persons— a lot of speculation tonight ...
Page 19
... White House, the world of espionage, war—and survival. No one else had ever held so many key positions in the CIA and the White House. A career CIA man, he had never been a covert operator but was an analyst with a doctorate in Russian ...
... White House, the world of espionage, war—and survival. No one else had ever held so many key positions in the CIA and the White House. A career CIA man, he had never been a covert operator but was an analyst with a doctorate in Russian ...
Page 28
... White House worked. If a president wanted to control, he controlled or used his staff—or even his wife— to do it. There wasn't exactly a reservoir of trust between her camp and his. She might find it difficult, if not impossible, to ...
... White House worked. If a president wanted to control, he controlled or used his staff—or even his wife— to do it. There wasn't exactly a reservoir of trust between her camp and his. She might find it difficult, if not impossible, to ...
Page 31
... White House. If she did the job for four years, Obama might be in trouble and have to dump Biden and pick her to run with him as vice president. She had nearly beaten Obama and had won substantial margins in the primaries among four ...
... White House. If she did the job for four years, Obama might be in trouble and have to dump Biden and pick her to run with him as vice president. She had nearly beaten Obama and had won substantial margins in the primaries among four ...
Page 38
... White House, Jones could help him navigate what could be a difficult relationship, particularly given Obama's fervent opposition to the Iraq War. Jones could be an inoculation, guide and shield. Podesta and several of the others were ...
... White House, Jones could help him navigate what could be a difficult relationship, particularly given Obama's fervent opposition to the Iraq War. Jones could be an inoculation, guide and shield. Podesta and several of the others were ...
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