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Obama's Wars Kindle Edition

by Bob Woodward (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 593 ratings

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In 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.

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It’s hard to understand why the government gets so irate over secrets spilled by WikiLeaks when top members of the cabinet and the military, as well as the president himself, so readily sit down with Bob Woodward. In his first foray into the weeds of the Obama administration’s war-decision process, Woodward offers readers these nuggets: the CIA finances and controls a 3,000-man secret army in Afghanistan; despite our various efforts over two administrations, the U.S. remains alarmingly unprepared for a terrorist attack, which, by the way, could come any day. He also reveals all the details of a highly confidential document on war strategy (given to Woodward when he simply asked one of the planners for it). But most of the book is devoted to what is probably not a secret: the infighting that goes into every decision that is or isn’t made about the war in Afghanistan. Woodward’s descriptions of war-strategy meetings suggest the movie Groundhog Day, with everyone saying the same thing over and over. The military and Hillary Clinton want 40,000 troops sent to Afghanistan. Joe Biden has a different plan, less dependent on personnel. The president wants more and different options, which aren’t given to him (“People have to stop telling me what I already know”). Finally, he has to modify the plan himself. The end of the book seems rushed, as though it was pushing up against deadline, with one of Obama’s most important war decisions, the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, just tacked on. By the wearying end, the conclusion is obvious: there’s no good way to end this war. No matter how much the White House and the military despise the word failure, with allies like the Karzai government in Afghanistan and the duplicitous Pakistanis, it’s hard to find any semblance of success in the offing. There is certainly none on view in these pages. --Ilene Cooper

Review

“Once again, Woodward has reached into the heart of decision making in the presidency...a heart-pounding description of a brand new president.” —Diane Sawyer, ABC News

“By this book, Woodward has done a real service to Americans.” —The Toronto Star

“More than anything else, Obama’s Wars—Bob Woodward’s latest must-read political tome—is a study in leadership and management style.” —Michael O’Donnell, The Christian Science Monitor

“Superbly reported... Woodward recounts how a new president may well have embroiled himself in a war that could poison his presidency.”

—Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Sheehan, in The Washington Post

“Compelling and immensely readable...The best account we have of an extraordinarily important decision by a wartime president on a strategy whose costs in either blood or treasure will impact every American for years to come….How this future unfolds should keep all of us on the edge of our seats.”

—Lt. General David Barno (retired), former Afghanistan commander (2003-2005), in Foreign Policy

“So much inside detail, so many accounts of behind-closed-door conversations... a saga of tragedy: about the snares and illusions of war in Afghanistan, the corruption of war generally, and the jangle of motives—the convergence and clash of bureaucratic interest, personal ambition, and earnest strategic analysis.”

—Fred Kaplan, Slate.com

“Like all Woodward books, Obama’s Wars plows relentlessly forward like a shark. It is all about narrative and scenes and relationships...”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

About the Author

Bob Woodward is an associate editor at The Washington Post, where he has worked for more than 50 years. He has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his Watergate coverage and the other for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has authored 21 bestselling books, 15 of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

On Thursday, November 6, 2008, two days after he was elected president of the United States, Senator Barack Obama arranged to meet in Chicago with Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence (DNI).

McConnell, 65, a retired Navy vice admiral with stooped shoulders, wisps of light brown hair and an impish smile, had come to present details of the most highly classified intelligence operations and capabilities of the vast American espionage establishment he oversaw as DNI. In just 75 days, the formidable powers of the state would reside with the 47-year-old Obama. He would soon be, as the intelligence world often called the president, “The First Customer.”

McConnell arrived early at the Kluczynski Federal Building, an austere Chicago skyscraper, with Michael J. Morell, who had been President George W. Bush’s presidential briefer on 9/11 and now headed the Central Intelligence Agency’s analysis division.

Two members of Senator Obama’s transition team from the last Democratic administration greeted them: John Podesta, Bill Clinton’s chief of staff for the final two years of his presidency, and James Steinberg, a former deputy national security adviser in the Clinton White House.

“We’re going to go in with the president-elect and hear what you guys have got to say,” Podesta said.

McConnell paused awkwardly. He had received instructions from President Bush. “As president,” Bush had told McConnell, “this is my decision. I forbid any information about our success and how this works” except to the president-elect. McConnell knew Bush had never been comfortable using the terminology “sources and methods.” But what the president meant was that nothing should be disclosed that might identify human spies and new techniques developed to infiltrate and attack al Qaeda, fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and defend the nation.

“John, sorry,” McConnell said. “I’d love to be able to accommodate, but I didn’t make these rules.” He related Bush’s instructions—only the president-elect and anyone designated to take a top national security cabinet post could attend. “Neither of you are designated. So I can’t. I’m not going to violate the president’s direction.”

“Okay, I got it,” Podesta said, barely concealing his irritation. Podesta had had all-source intelligence access before, as had Steinberg. He thought this was not helpful to Obama, who was largely unfamiliar with intelligence briefings.

Obama arrived still in full campaign mode with ready smiles and firm handshakes all around. He was buoyant in the afterglow of victory.

Two months earlier, after receiving a routine top secret briefing from McConnell on terrorism threats, Obama had half joked, “You know, I’ve been worried about losing this election. After talking to you guys, I’m worried about winning this election.”

“Mr. President-elect, we need to see you for a second,” Podesta said, steering him off to a private room. When Obama returned, his demeanor was different. He was more reserved, even aggravated. The transition from campaigning to governing—with all its frustrations—was delivering another surprise. His people, the inner circle from the campaign and the brain trust of Democrats he had carefully assembled to guide his transition, were being excluded. The first customer–elect was going to have to go it alone.

McConnell and Morell sat down with Obama in a private, secure room called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF. It was an unusually small room in the center of the building where a bathroom might normally be located. Designed to prevent eavesdropping, the SCIF was windowless and confining, even claustrophobic.

At first, this would be something of a continuation and amplification of the earlier briefing McConnell had given candidate Obama. There were 161,000 American troops at war in Iraq and 38,000 in Afghanistan. Intelligence was making significant contributions to the war efforts. But the immediate threat to the United States came not from these war zones, but from Pakistan, an unstable country with a population of about 170 million, a 1,500-mile border with southern Afghanistan, and an arsenal of some 100 nuclear weapons.

Priority one for the DNI, and now Obama, had to be the ungoverned tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where Osama bin Laden, his al Qaeda network, and branches of the extremist insurgent Taliban had nested in 150 training camps and other facilities.

Combined, the seven regions forming Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were about the size of New Jersey. The extremist groups and tribal chiefs ruled much of the FATA and had footholds in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier province.

In September 2006, Pakistan had signed a treaty ceding full control of the FATA’s North Waziristan region to Taliban-linked tribal chiefs, creating a kind of Wild West for al Qaeda and the Taliban insurgents attacking the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

In the earlier briefing, McConnell had laid out the problem in dealing with Pakistan. It was a dishonest partner of the U.S. in the Afghanistan War. “They’re living a lie,” McConnell had said. In exchange for reimbursements of about $2 billion a year from the U.S., Pakistan’s powerful military and its spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), helped the U.S. while giving clandestine aid, weapons and money to the Afghan Taliban. They had an “office of hedging your bets,” McConnell said.

Dealing with the ISI would break your heart if you did it long enough, McConnell had explained. It was as if there were six or seven different personalities within the ISI. The CIA exploited and bought some, but at least one section—known as Directorate S—financed and nurtured the Taliban and other terrorist groups. CIA payments might put parts of the ISI in America’s pocket, McConnell had said, but the Pakistani spy agency could not or would not control its own people.

The Pakistani leadership believed the U.S. would eventually withdraw from the region, as it had toward the end of the Cold War once the occupying Soviet forces retreated from Afghanistan in 1989. Their paranoid mind-set was, in part, understandable. If America moved out again, India and Iran would fill the power vacuum inside Afghanistan. And most of all, Pakistan feared India, an avowed enemy for more than 60 years. As a growing economic and military powerhouse, India had numerous intelligence programs inside Afghanistan to spread its influence there. Pakistan worried more about being encircled by India than being undermined by extremists inside its borders.

The best way out of this would be for Obama to broker some kind of peace between India and Pakistan, the DNI had said. If Pakistan felt significantly more secure in its relations with India, it might stop playing its deadly game with the Taliban.

In his September overview, McConnell also discussed strikes by small unmanned aerial vehicles such as Predators that had sophisticated surveillance cameras and Hellfire missiles. The covert action program authorized by President Bush targeted al Qaeda leadership and other groups inside Pakistan. Although classified, the program had been widely reported in the Pakistani and American media.

Only four strikes had been launched in the first half of 2008, Obama had been told. The U.S. had uncovered evidence that the Pakistanis would delay planned strikes in order to warn al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, whose fighters would then disperse. In June 2008, McConnell had taken human and technical intelligence to President Bush showing multiple conversations between an ISI colonel and Siraj Haqqani, a guerrilla commander whose network was allied with the Afghan Taliban.

“Okay,” Bush had said, “we’re going to stop playing the game. These sons of bitches are killing Americans. I’ve had enough.” He ordered stepped-up Predator drone strikes on al Qaeda 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 intelligence data on terrorist refuges.

Bush had directed that Pakistan receive “concurrent notification” of drone attacks, meaning they learned of a strike as it was underway or, just to be sure, a few minutes after. American drones now owned the skies above Pakistan.

In addition, McConnell had given President Bush intelligence showing that the Pakistani ISI had helped the Haqqani network attack the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 7, four months earlier. The U.S. had warned India, which had put its embassy in a defensive posture. But it was not enough. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 100 injured in a suicide bombing.

McConnell had then moved during the September briefing to one of the most pressing worries. Al Qaeda was recruiting people from the 35 countries who didn’t need visas to enter the United States. It was paying them good money, bringing them into the ungoverned regions by the dozens, training them in all aspects of warfare—explosives and chemical—and trying to have them acquire biological weapons.

“We’re a big open sieve,” McConnell said. “They’re trying to get people with passports that don’t require a visa to get into the United States.” Al Qaeda had not succeeded yet, but that was the big worry. “We can’t find any cell in the United States, but we suspect there may be some.”

That got Obama’s full attention. Some of the 9/11 hijackers had operated for nearly 18 months in the Uni...

From AudioFile

Bob Woodward uses his nearly unrestricted access to the key players to paint an authoritative portrait of the process that led to President Obama's decision to deploy increased military might in the Afghanistan War. Using a chronological structure and a highly informative writing style, Woodward guides listeners through the military and political intrigue leading to the "surge." Boyd Gaines provides a clear, smooth, and rapid narration. His warm and mature baritone employs hints of tension or emotion and offers minimal vocal characterization. Gaines's assured tone keeps to an appropriate pace, without much flourish. Those who enjoy hearing about political interplay, with its occasionally dry tactical and strategic details, will find this an excellent choice. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003VPWY3M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (September 27, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 24415 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 468 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1439172501

Best Sellers Rank: #835,884 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #519 in 21st Century History of the U.S.
- #1,375 in United States Executive Government
- #1,437 in Federal Government

Customer Reviews:
4.5 593 ratings

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Bob Woodward

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Bob Woodward is an associate editor of The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1971. He has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, first in 1973 for the coverage of the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein, and second in 2003 as the lead reporter for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He has authored or coauthored 18 books, all of which have been national non-fiction bestsellers. Twelve of those have been #1 national bestsellers. He has written books on eight of the most recent presidents, from Nixon to Obama.

Bob Schieffer of CBS News has said, “Woodward has established himself as the best reporter of our time. He may be the best reporter of all time.”

In 2014, Robert Gates, former director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, said that he wished he’d recruited Woodward into the CIA, saying of Woodward, “He has an extraordinary ability to get otherwise responsible adults to spill [their] guts to him...his ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn’t be talking about is just extraordinary and may be unique.”

Gene Roberts, the former managing editor of The New York Times, has called the Woodward-Bernstein Watergate coverage, “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.” In listing the all-time 100 best non-fiction books, Time Magazine has called All the President’s Men, by Bernstein and Woodward, “Perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history.”

In 2018 David Von Drehle wrote, “What [Theodore] White did for presidential campaigns, Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward has done for multiple West Wing administrations – in addition to the Supreme Court, the Pentagon, the CIA and the Federal Reserve.”

Woodward was born March 26, 1943 in Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a communications officer in the United States Navy before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he was a reporter for one year before joining the Post.

Photos, a Q&A, and additional materials are available at Woodward's website, www.bobwoodward.com.

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4.5 out of 5

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Customers find the book a great read with informative material and a good profile of cabinet members. They also describe the writing style as smooth and straight forward. Readers also find the story fascinating and the writing as well-written. However, some feel the politics can cloud strategic thinking and choices.

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59 customers mention "Reading experience"59 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-told, detailed, and interesting. They also say it's a page-turner and a high-quality used book.

"...interest that this book like many others he has written, is a page turner. You start it, and you just keep going until you are finished...." Read more

"...Bob Woodward can be fickle, it seems, and while OBAMA'S WAR is a fascinating read, it is by no means the final word on a very difficult war in a far-..." Read more

"...Read it for the details. Read it for the how it happened. It is truly a great read. You won't be able to put it down...." Read more

"...It's a definitely fascinating book written as if it were a thriller/suspense novel!" Read more

40 customers mention "Depth of content"34 positive6 negative

Customers find the book informative, covering the complexities of the war in Afghanistan. They also say the book is interesting and well told, with minimal analysis and commentary. Readers also appreciate the good profile of cabinet members.

"...It is a convoluted, fascinating read that gives the reader unique insights into Obama and the leading characters of his Administration...." Read more

"...He is very intellectual and methodical in his approach to problems and his decisions always came after deep thought based on all the data that is..." Read more

"...There are deep divisions but also thoughtful and thorough discussions...." Read more

"...Woodward's previous books this book is apolitical and contains minimal analysis and commentary...." Read more

36 customers mention "Readability"26 positive10 negative

Customers find the book very well written, easy to read, and straight forward. They also say the author does an excellent job of clearly defining the complexities of the Afghan war.

"...Woodward's writing has the poet's touch...." Read more

"Woodward has written a book that is simple to read and flows easily...." Read more

"...Again, not an easy read. Not what I had come to expect in a Woodward book-- average reader may be disappointed...." Read more

"...Obama's Wars is well-written, comprehensive, and un-biased, which is refreshing for a book about politics...." Read more

29 customers mention "Story"24 positive5 negative

Customers find the story fascinating, great in detail, and an important account of recent history.

"...It is elegant, straightforward, and of such compelling interest that this book like many others he has written, is a page turner...." Read more

"...It is a convoluted, fascinating read that gives the reader unique insights into Obama and the leading characters of his Administration...." Read more

"...It is truly a fascinating telling of the way Obama made his decision and a window into his decision making process...." Read more

"...Obama's War is an important account of recent history about a key decision President Obama faced...." Read more

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Customers find the writing style of the book great and quick. They also appreciate the seller's performance and delivery.

"...a company fully versed in the book business, instant satisfaction with the Whispernet delivery system... a really well thought out package for a..." Read more

"Woodward has written a book that is simple to read and flows easily...." Read more

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5 customers mention "Content"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the content excellent, unbiased, and detailed. They also appreciate the many named sources.

"...His sources as always are impeccable but don't look for insanity as was detailed in the Trump books...." Read more

"...Woodward gives an open, honest, unbiased, and very detailed account of the aspects of the Obama administration's investigation and decision-making..." Read more

"...Obama's Wars is well-written, comprehensive, and un-biased, which is refreshing for a book about politics...." Read more

"Excellent book and you can trust the sources...." Read more

6 customers mention "Politics"0 positive6 negative

Customers find the politics in the book frustrating to read, saying it can cloud strategic thinking and choices. They also say the book risks overanalyzing the war and becoming slow reading.

"...a large number of facts in his decision matrix, he also risks over-analyzing the war...." Read more

"...Today's News Reports sound the same as the book: the military is still bogged down, does not seem to understand their mission in spite of the..." Read more

"...Some portions were frustrating to read - politics can really cloud strategic thinking and choices...." Read more

"...The politics of some military leaders is disturbing as is the clear fact that Obama is in over his head in military decisions and foreign policy." Read more

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Richard of Connecticut

Run, Don't Walk to get this Book - Woodward pens another Important Best Seller!!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2010

Verified Purchase

In the author's personal note to this book, Bob Woodward thanks his assistant Josh Bock with words of such kindness that I was completely taken aback by the grace that this man possesses. Many writers wouldn't take the time, or interest to be so encouraging to someone else.

Woodward's writing has the poet's touch. It is elegant, straightforward, and of such compelling interest that this book like many others he has written, is a page turner. You start it, and you just keep going until you are finished.

First we must discuss his sources and methods. This author doesn't publish unless he has confirmation of what he is being told by an additional 3rd party. His interviews are recorded, transcribed and then checked for errors. He sometimes revisits the same interviewee 4 or 5 times. He works with notes, documents and recollections.

Although a person being interviewed may request that it be background only, once Woodward gets the same story from another independent source, the story is no longer background. Many people have talked to Woodward on the basis of background in an effort to remain anonymous, and control him. It just doesn't remain that way. You are not going to fool this man.

When you read Obama's Wars, you realize that you can't obtain this much great information if you read a year's worth of the New York Times. You are getting the real deal here, and you don't get it anywhere else. Let me illustrate:

* When meeting President Bush's intelligence officer and hearing what he had to say prior to the election, then Senator Obama responds that he was worried about losing this election, now he's worried about winning the election with the information he is being told.

* Woodward confirms for us that Pakistani intelligence, the so called ISI has been giving aide to the Taliban, while taking $2 billion a year in cash from us.

* During the first half of 2008, the US made only 4 Predator strikes in Pakistan. Pakistan made the US warn the ISI ahead of time before a strike could be made. The ISI in turn would warn the Taliban and the bad guys would head for the hills prior to the strike. Once American got wise to the setup, we only gave the ISI simultaneous warning, and frankly we waited until the Predator was ready to fire its missiles before giving that warning. Where are you going to get information like this? I don't see it in the Washington Post, and certainly not the NY Times.

* President Obama was informed that 35 countries do not require Visas prior to coming to the United States. Terrorists are now coming to the US through those countries and forming cells. Our worst nightmare may be yet to come.

* Iran will have a gun-type nuclear weapon between 2013 and 2015 which will be demonstrated in the desert. Saudi Arabia will immediately notify Pakistan that you help us develop a nuclear weapon, or we cut off oil supplies to your country.

* Then Senator Obama was the victim of a cyber attack on his campaign by the Chinese government that copied his documents and files. The greater danger was what would happen if they destroyed the files as opposed to just copying them. The same thing happened to Senator McCain and his campaign.

* But Wait - there's more. Senator Obama was then told that every day both the Bank of NY and Citibank handle $3 trillion a day in funds transfers, whereas the entire economy is equal to $14 trillion in gross domestic product. Other countries now have the capability to interfere with those transactions through cyber war. The resulting financial chaos would be exponentially worse than the World Trade Center destruction. We do not have a cyber defense yet.

Woodward is at his best when discussing personalities. His discussion of Hillary Clinton's reluctance, then refusal and finally acceptance of the Cabinet position of Secretary of State is absolutely fascinating. Senator Clinton did not want the position, but Senator Obama's people sensed the door was still opened, so they told her to sleep on it over night. During the night Senator Clinton consulted Mark Penn, the Clinton pollster who basically asked her if she was crazy. Take it, "you will have an unmatched record of public service." He also reminded her that you are weak on foreign policy and national security, and now you will have absolute bonafides in both, and it didn't hurt that you she will finally show independence from her husband.

Yes, there's Richard Holbrooke the egotist, and General Petraeus comes through looking great. No one lays a glove on the General. The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gets very high marks in the book. Over and over again, when you read Woodward, you recognize that the story you are reading is not something that is covered anywhere else. You are a part of the decision making process. You are involved. You know who makes sense and who doesn't, who's brilliant, and who's all talk, and no show.

I have given you pieces here and pieces there, a flavoring of a giant ice cream Sundae. Every page has a great story, and there is nothing superfluous in this great read. This book gets five stars. If you love politics, a good story, history, and reading what a great author operating at the peak of his powers can do, read Obama's Wars, and thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck

249 people found this helpful

The Lowdown on How Obama Expanded the War in Afghanistan

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2010

Verified Purchase

Bob Woodward has become the go-to guy to chronicle the inside story of how Washington operates. His latest book, OBAMA'S WAR, details how President Barack Obama presided over a year-long study that led to an expansion of the American war in Afghanistan.

It is a convoluted, fascinating read that gives the reader unique insights into Obama and the leading characters of his Administration.

Woodward paints a portrait of Obama that is generally positive. He describes the young president as a thoughtful chief executive who maintains his cool among the hotheads that he has surrounded himself in the White House. And like most White House administrations there is considerable infighting among Obama's aides.

Woodward gives us a gossipy version of how Obama arrived at his decision to send an additional 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan. We get the mindset of the principal players, including Vice President Joe Biden (a chattering nabob who serves as a brake on some of the other hawks on the White House staff); national Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, a well respected military chief who seems to be in over his head politically; Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who is a loyal, if cautious adviser to Obama, and chief of staff Rham Emanuel who is a profane, rambunctious lieutenant who cracks the whip with a hair trigger in an effort to get things done. Richard Holbrook, the man who would be Secretary of State under a Hilary Clinton Administration, loses the confidence of Obama as he (Holbrook) fails to resolve the enigma of a Muslim Pakistani nation that is trapped by its fear of India.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates comes off as a wily, practical politician who remains faithful to his command structure and the troops in the Afghan theater of war. Army Gen. David Petraeus is depicted as a cautious, but media savvy, politic military commander who successfully walks a high tension wire between his bosses at the Pentagon, the White House staff and the political heavy weights in Congress. Woodward describes Gen. Stan McCrystal as probably the best field commander for the war in Afghanistan - but who stumbles over his inability to keep his mouth shut.

Woodward also gives the reader useful insights into the politics of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the intricacies of the geopolitical framework of the Middle East.

Woodward always amazes with his ability to wring information out of the key players in Washington. Clearly everyone from Obama on down talked to Woodward. He quotes frequently from Jones' private notebooks, for example, and his extensive verbatim quotes from all the key players indicate he had virtually unfettered access to the White House and the Pentagon.

An unexplained mystery is who gave Woodward the copy of McCrystal's top secret, highly restricted assessment of the war in Afghanistan? After considering the likely culprits, this reviewer suggests that the culprit was either Petraeus, DOD chief Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Mike Mullen, or most likely Richard Holbrook. Whoever it was, Woodward couldn't wait for publication of his book and published a page 1 story in the Washington Post nearly a year ago. The details of how Woodward and his editors at the Post negotiated publication of the report with the White House team are fascinating.

While Obama comes off reasonably well in this book, his legacy of course will depend on the final outcome of his war in Afghanistan. The reader should remember that in his four books on the Bush war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Woodward also gave George W Bush high marks early on, but in the final book, THE WAR WITHIN, Woodward described Bush as "intolerant of confrontations and in-depth debate.... he never got a handle on it and over these years of war, too often he failed to lead."

Even ace reporter Bob Woodward can be fickle, it seems, and while OBAMA'S WAR is a fascinating read, it is by no means the final word on a very difficult war in a far-off land that has never been permanently conquered. While Woodward successfully connects the dots thus far, the full story of hte AfPak War remains elusive -- and will remain so for a long time in the future.

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Huguette gabrial

Woodward well documented.

Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2019

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Very good reading. Well narrated.

Pradyuman

Impressive, must read.

Reviewed in India on July 6, 2019

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This is one of the best non-fiction I have ever read. It's a real page turner, but you don't want to skip even few lines and you might lose a vital piece of information. And even though you read each page, you would still be able to finish the book in couple of days.

Gives insight about Obama's first initial years, where he is fighting with Pentagon regarding troops increase in Afghanistan, even though he promised in his presedential campaign that he was against the wall. The politics of war is something that is beyond comprehension of a normal human being.

TC in 08

Woodward's take on how President Obama had to tackle the ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2018

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Woodward's take on how President Obama had to tackle the war in Afghanistan and how to both wind it down while at the same time trying to solve the problem of a complacent Pakistan that was both fighting and abetting al-Qaeda inside their borders. Brings into focus George Bush's administrations lack of having an end game to the war that they started and then had no clue how to end or solve the problems that it created.

Wardog

Erneuter Bestseller von Bob Woodward

Reviewed in Germany on February 16, 2013

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Wie immer exzellent geschrieben, liest sich auch dieses Bob Woodward's Buch sehr leicht und spannend. Dem Leser wird einen Einblick in der Machtzentrale Obamas gewehrt, man bekommt ein Gefühl wie die Machtausübung funktioniert. Ich fand es erstaunlich wie die hohe Generäle den Oberbefehlshaber, der in ihren Augen ein Neuling ist, zu den von ihnen gewünsten Entscheidungen treiben. Noch mehr hat mich die Standhaftigkeit Obamas nach mehr Optionen zu suchen und seine Entschlossenheit das Angagement in Afghanistan schnellstmöglich zu reduzieren und sogar zu Ende zu bringen. Ganz große Leistung von der nicht alltäglich gesprochen wird. Auch das in der Era Busch nicht mal klar formulierte Zielsetzung für den Afghanistankrieg gab erfuhr ich erst von diesem Buch! Absolute Kaufempfehlung insbesondere als Kindle Version für 8,63 €!

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Fernald

アフガニスタンとオバマ政権の対外政策を知るために

Reviewed in Japan on December 31, 2010

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本書は２００９年１２月に米国が発表したアフガニスタン新戦略を中心に、米国のアフガン政策の決定過程を詳述した力作である。世界的な話題作なのだが、残念なことにまだ日本語訳が出ていない。苦労しつつも何とか原文で読破してみたが、それだけの価値がある作品だということが良くわかった。

本書の主題は、アフガニスタン政策をめぐる米国の文民指導層と軍人指導層の対立とされる。よくある図式に見えがちだが、実態はそう単純ではない。ペトレイアス・マクリスタル両将軍の４万人増派論にはマレン統合参謀本部議長のみならず、ゲイツ国防長官、さらにはクリントン国務長官も同調していた。他方、パキスタンのテロ勢力に焦点を移し、より小規模の増派を訴えるバイデン副大統領には、カートライト統合参謀本部副議長が同調している。このように、文民指導層も軍人指導層も必ずしも一枚岩ではなかったことが分かる。注目すべきは、筆者も指摘しているとおり、少なくともアフガニスタンについては、ゲイツ長官は軍人指導層の意見を受け容れがちであるということ、そしてバイデン副大統領の影響力が無視できない程大きくなっていることである。特に後者の点については、日本では米国の副大統領の重みが近年増していることがほとんど理解されていないため、重要だと思われる。

本書を読んで最も印象に残ったのが、米国大統領という職責の重さである。大統領に当選した者は就任前に情報機関の長からインテリジェンスのブリーフィングを受けるが、本書はまさにそのシーンから始まる。勿論、大統領就任後の重要な外交決断は全て大統領が決めなくてはならない。上述のアフガニスタン戦略が最もいい例であり、オバマは政府部内の様々な意見を踏まえ、皆が納得できる政策を打ち出さなくてはならなかった。本書の大部分は、ホワイトハウスでオバマが、アフガンに関する様々な戦略オプションを持ち寄った政府高官達に矢継ぎ早に的確な質問を繰り出しているシーンで占められる。戦略目標、ミッションといった抽象的な事柄から延々と議論していくので退屈な箇所も少なくないのだが、様々なオプションを上手に扱うオバマに強い印象を受けた。

自衛隊がアフガニスタンに医官を派遣するという話があるそうだ。そうだとすれば、アフガニスタンは我が国でも今後一層注目を浴びる地域になるだろう。また、本書を読むと米国、特にオバマ政権の政策決定過程が良く分かる。本書は、アフガニスタンと米国の対外政策を知るために大変有益な書物である。

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