Obama's Wars

De: Bob Woodward

Narrado por: Boyd Gaines

2011 Audie Award Finalist for Nonfiction

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.

Pretty dry.

This sterile presentation makes it easy to forget the reality of the war on the ground. Would've been much more impactful if the narrative had bounced back and forth between actual combat operations and the office drama on a regular basis.

Classic Woodard

This is Bob Woodard in his element. Beyond the politicking and spinning of the arguments, he gives an almost AP factual style reporting on what is really going on in the White House. Much like his three books on the Bush administration, it is not hard to see pundits on both sides of the isle picking and choosing their quotes from this work to support their point-of-view.
In the end, what we walk away from this experience with is the understanding that The White House is home to the biggest internal rivalry of egos in the country. Negotiating them and trying to map the way ahead for our country is a path beset with many obstacles, opinions, and potential detours. Most readers are going to look at this work and try to draw comparisons, which is completely legitimate and possible. In the end, what Woodard makes clear is that these are all people who fervently believe that what they do everyday moves our country forward to the best of their abilities. It is up to the reader to look at the FACTS and decide is this the future they envision for our country.
I recommend this book to readers of all stripes, red, blue, and purple.

A lot of details -- Too many in fact

Initially my interest was high as I learned the inner workings at the very pinnacle of government. Few surprises as cabinet heads and others fight for power and position. By the middle of the book the story had morphed into more and more of the same conversations at the never-ending meetings. Toward the end I was just wanting it to be over. Too much detail, not enough punch for me.

The reader killed it for me

At every single opportunity to get a name or term right, the reader went in a different direction. You can tell he's never been to Iraq or Afghanistan, and never spent a minute with anyone in the military. A different reader would make a huge difference...

Great Book!!

This book was very well written . Bob Woodward really knows his stuff and is very good at what he does.

great service to the country

I'm an Army Chaplain, combat veteran, and just finished this book. I feel like I've been through a fourteen hour staff meeting. I agree that there are some mistakes in the performance, though few. I agree with other reviewers that there is a redundancy, but I am grateful for this. That's how staff meetings should be. The process of forming a strategy for the war must be messy, conflicted, and emotional. The fact that Woodward reflects this in his writing only reflects the difficulties inherent in making decisions at this level. Great job, though the listener will require patience. It's not a novel. It's the messy, real, candid view of who makes decisions and the process by which those decisions are made. Thank you, Mr. Woodward. And thank you, Mr. Obama, for taking the time to listen to each side and angle before making the tough decision.

Interestingly Repetitive

This book provides a different view of Obama's intellectual abilities to deal with those who underestimate his. mind power

Great book

Great read on how President Obama decide on War strategy, incredible access to the decision makers.

Fascinating and Extremely well-researched

Phenomenal book. Builds off of Woodward's previous book, State of Denial, which similarly investigated military/civilian decision making with the Iraq and Afghan wars, including some of the same figures.

Afghanistan War 101

Woodward gives his usual thorough, almost too much so, narrative of the current Afgan war, and the many problems there after the country was left to languish as Bush turned his sights on Iraq. The only minor complaints are that the long and almost repetitive narratives become background noise after awhile. Plus, the subject matter is quite narrow in scope. I wanted to hear more about the other trials and problems in the White House ongoing at the same time. There are also clear moments in the audio where the narrator was either starting a new day of reading, or had to "punch in" some audio changes after the fact. A bit shoddy for this stature of book.