The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008
 | Bush at War Part 4Simon & Schuster Audio, 2008, Audio CD Customer Rating: 71 reviews Recommend |
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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.
Title: The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 (Bush at War Part 4)
Sales Rank: 49934 in Books
Author: Bob Woodward
Creator: Boyd Gaines
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, Abridged edition, 2008-09-08, Audio CD, ISBN: 0743570502
Package Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches, 0.4 pounds
- So-So book of Woodward's final installment
- 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… More reviews
- An excellent account of Bush's recent Iraq Policy
- Bob Woodward has provided another candid, incisive, and informative window into the personalities, key players, and power brokers who have helped shape and implement the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. He provides detailed accounts of candid, sometimes back room discussions among the key figures who have shaped American military policy in Iraq in the waning… More reviews
- Like watching the movie "Groundhogs Day", only without the jokes
- By Cameron Castle:
I just finished "The War Within: A Secret Whitehouse History 2006 to 2008." by Bob Woodward. It should have been titled, "Letting The Fox In The Henhouse." Woodward's first two surprisingly positive books about President Bush allowed him unbelievable access to the inner workings of the Bush White house. It was both fascinating and tedious… More reviews
- An Abject Failure of Leadership
- CentCom commander Adm. Fox Fallon described the situation best. He told the NSC that the Administration was to blame. He said that they got the country into the mess, went to war without a plan, screwed up how to run it and now take no responsibility.
In this the fourth book of the Bush White House, Woodward shows the… More reviews
- Policy Evolution
- This book is excellent. I think most people will enjoy this book no matter what your point of view is. The book is written really well, just as most of Woodward's books are. He makes you feel as you read it you are in the room with the principles watching events transpire.
The book serves two functions. The first thing… More reviews
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