The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 | 
 enlarge | Author: Bob Woodward
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 425
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 1416558977
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9781416558972
ASIN: 1416558977
Publication Date: September 8, 2008
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Product Description
As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the U.S. government from 2006 through mid-2008.
The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly opposes a surge of additional U.S. forces and confronts the president, who replies that her suggestions would lead to failure. The president keeps his decision to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from Vice President Dick Cheney until two days before he announces it. A retired Army general uses his high-level contacts to shape decisions about the war, as Bush and Cheney use him to deliver sensitive messages outside the chain of command.
For months, the administration's strategy reviews continue in secret, with no deadline and no hurry, in part because public disclosure would harm Republicans in the November 2006 elections. National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley tells Rice, "We've got to do it under the radar screen because the electoral season is so hot."
The War Within provides an exhaustive account of the struggles of General David Petraeus, who takes over in Iraq during one of the bleakest and most violent periods of the war. It reveals how breakthroughs in military operations and surveillance account for much of the progress as violence in Iraq plummets in the middle of 2007.
Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realizes the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 U.S. troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election.
The War Within addresses head-on questions of leadership, not just in war but in how we are governed and the dangers of unwarranted secrecy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 70 more reviews...
Impecably researched, but a little dry December 5, 2008
I have the utmost respect for Bob Woodward as a journalist. I don't think anyone could read this book an not come away with the sense that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of interviews and research behind the 400+ pages. His ability to reconstruct entire conversations about some of the most fundamental decisions in the Iraq War is remarkable.
Woodward does something that very few other journalists are capable of doing. He reports on the facts in as objective a manner as possible, without really providing any analysis or interpretation; he leaves that to the reader. He turns the reader into a fly on the wall, observing history.
With all of that said, the book is a little dry. There is only so much you can read about how few people in the Bush Administration really got what was going on, how dysfunctional things were, how many separate groups were off conducting their own secret strategy reviews, etc. At some point, it just starts to blur together.
What I can't tell is whether it is fair for me to blame Woodward for the book being slow or whether that is just an accurate representation of the muddled situation that we were in? Maybe the endless discussions without any sense of progress is *necessary* to provide real sense for how things were going?
The book really sped up once it hits the midterm elections in 2006 and moves into the discussion of The Surge. The rest of the story was much more interesting and engaging (probably since it finally felt like something was happening).
Time will only tell how the story ends, but I have to say that I found myself questioning my own opinions about the merits of The Surge and wondering whether Petraeus and The Surge will go down as the fundamental turning point in the war.
What struck me the most from the book is how few characters come away looking good at all. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rice, and several of the major military leaders (up to, but not including Patraeus) come across as clueless, uninformed, or disengaged. The few characters that come across as rational are the Iraq Study Group (whose report was largely ignored), the Council of Colonels (whose months of work was never presented to any senior official), Colin Powell (who only plays a minor role in the book having already left the administration), and then, in the end, Petraeus.
For those looking to portray the Bush administration as evil or ideological, the book will probably leave you wanting. Instead, you walk away with an overwhelming sense of incompetence with a few bright spots.
Detailed Look into the Bush White House November 30, 2008
I read this book having not read any of the previous Bob Woodward books. The details that he is able to get from within the White House and what was going on behind closed doors is astounding.
I started getting frustrated with the book in the middle as sometimes I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. This was more of a flaw in the way Bush handled the situation than a flaw in the book. The lack of progress and decision-making in Iraq is unbelievable, and is definitely shown through the book.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about how the war in Iraq was and is being handled.
Top Secrets Revealed November 23, 2008
Have just begun reading the book but from page one it holds abundant previously secret information, well-documented as only a top notch reporter like Bob Woodward can do it!
Tells the Story of the People Who Saved the War November 21, 2008
As with his first 3 books detailing the Bush Administration's conduct of the Long War, Woodward provides an excellent first draft of history. A chronicle put together from extensive interviews with numerous sources, Woodward paints a picture of an Administration at war with itself over the struggle in the Iraq theater. The situation in Iraq begins to get so bad, that elements within and outside the White House begin to piece together a strategy to turn around the war effort, and eventually convince the President to change strategy at the last possible moment. Like in the first three books, this story is so detailed I sometimes think "He HAS to be making this up. No one could know that!"
There's been a lot of sensational angst and hand-wringing over this book,just like the previous ones. The first two books were roundly condemned by the Left as "laudatory" of Bush. The third book, State of Denial, was widely seen as more critical, as was this one. The reality is more complex. All four books show the warts of the Bush Administration and The War Within is no different. Woodward shows us a president who is not deeply involved in the decision-making process and is, some would say, dangerously sure of himself.
But it also shows a president who is resolute and willing to act when the chips are down. Who is willing to swim against the tide, ignore the conventional wisdom and finally do what is necessary to win the battle.
What plays out in the book is that the tragedy of the Bush Administration is that it took *so long*, pushed to brink of defeat, before the president decided to change the strategy. What came out in State of Denial was that the president kind of sees himself as the "cheerleader in chief." That is, he empowers people to do a job, and then back them up to the hilt. But sometimes, you have to be Lincoln. Sometimes you just have to fire generals until you find one that fights.
The Abazaid/Sanchez/Casey strategy was appalling. "Leave to win?" That doesn't even make sense on its face! How do you win a war by ceding the battlefield?
Despite Woodward's generally negative characterization of President Bush, he does give him his due in finally deciding to go around his own generals and military establishment, and tap a select group of people who were flailing their arms and yelling for 2 years - trying to keep the nation from sailing off a cliff. The War Within details the efforts these people also; Meghan O'Sullivan, General Jack Keane, Fred Kagan and Steve Hadley, and their struggles within the security bureaucracy. These people saved the war.
 So-So book of Woodward's final installment November 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This forth installment by Woodward on Bush's presidency/Iraq war focuses almost entirely on the Bush Administration's about face in dealing with Iraq. Or more importantly, how very little change had occurred except throwing more troops at the fire contrary to what the military advised the president on. I was very disappointed that the entire book focused only on one thing - the troop surge. I really thought that troop surge was greatly overrated in this volume. What I mean is I think Woodward tried to parallel it with the debacle of Johnson's escalation of Vietnam and hedged his bets on public reaction and the effects that the troop surge was going to have on the American public.
I think the bottom line is the war still continues, the surge is over and done with and just viewed as another drop in the bucket for the Bush presidency. I really think Woodward could have covered the entire surge in 2-3 chapters.
What I did like is Woodward's ability to get inside the administration and write about the behind the scenes and the interactions that go on. This book sheds light that Bush really makes the ultimate decision but like a poker player - bets on one hand. Bush never really engulfed himself in the situation but had others do the leg work for him. Hadley is the real engine turning the opinion and forcing the administration into alignment (whereas Rummy was the bad guy in the the previous book).
This was the least interesting book (of the 4 Woodward has written) with little to no revelation in it. Everyone knew the war was being lost but Bush would not admit it. Well, the war continues, no one hears of Petraeus anymore and the surge is forgotten - this is how memorable I chalked this volume to be.
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