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Obama's Wars
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- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
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A balanced account of the W and Cheney White House
- By Scott on 11-15-13
By: Peter Baker
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88 Days to Kandahar
- A CIA Diary
- By: Robert L. Grenier
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
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In his gripping narrative, we meet General Tommy Franks, who bridles at CIA control of "his" war; General "Jafar Amin", a gruff Pakistani intelligence officer who saves Grenier from committing career suicide; Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's brilliant ambassador to the US, who tries to warn her government of the al-Qaeda threat; "Mark", the CIA operator who guides GulAgha Shirzai to bloody victory over the Taliban.
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Honest conclusion based on practical realities.
- By rehman on 03-30-15
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
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Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
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The President's Book of Secrets
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Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities.
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about the report and nothing but the report
- By Michael on 09-07-16
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Good Hunting
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Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story is the spellbinding memoir of Devine's time in the CIA, where he served for more than 30 years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, responsible for all of the agency's spying operations. This is a story of intrigue and high-stakes maneuvering - all the more gripping when the fate of our geopolitical order hangs in the balance. But this audiobook also sounds a warning to our nation's decision makers.
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Fascinating, An education on spying
- By Anthony on 12-13-15
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The Gamble
- General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
- By: Thomas E. Ricks
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Fiasco, Thomas E. Ricks's #1 New York Times bestseller, transformed the political dialogue on the war in Iraq - The Gamble is the next news-breaking installment. Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself.
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A Sure Bet
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
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Road to Disaster
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- By: Brian VanDeMark
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Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite many words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with Road to Disaster. Historian Brian VanDeMark draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson.
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Vietnam Veteran
- By Jim Rollins on 04-02-19
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The Endgame
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The Endgame is Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor's most ambitious and news-breaking book to date. A peerless work of investigative journalism and historical recreation ranging from 2003 to 2012, it gives us the first comprehensive, inside account of arguably the most widely reported yet least understood war in American history - from the occupation of Iraq to the withdrawal of American troops.
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Interesting Perspective, but One-Sided
- By Benjamin on 02-09-14
By: Michael R. Gordon, and others
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What listeners say about Obama's Wars
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Roy
- 10-01-10
Woodward Does a Service
First, read this book if you like Obama and if you don't. The insights are worth the effort for those who are news junkies and those who are just interested in what has taken place in the country. I might say that the book is best thought of as an essay on the lonliness of command. For listeners - listen for the patterns and insights that will be gained - the impressions are most informative. The writing is Bob Woodward, the reading of Boyd Gaines is very good - over all there is insight here for those willing to take time. Draw your own conclusions about Obama.
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52 people found this helpful
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Overall
- swatch1776
- 10-03-10
A look inside
'Obama's' Wars' is a continuation of the four books Woodward has already written on the Middle Eastern wars since Sept 11. Once again Woodward is able to get a whole lot of, inside information about the strategies and tactics our leaders are using.
The main facts learned are 1) Obama came in as president looking for a more efficient way to prosecute the Afgan war 2) Two basic strategies emerged a) Biden's small footprint strategy of going after high value targets (a continuation of what was Bush's war strategy only with an increased emphases on Afgan now that Iraq was winding down) b) The Petraeus counter-insurgency plan that had shown some success in Iraq. 3) Obama wanted some middle ground between these strategies because he saw how Bush's strategy was largely unsuccessful and with Al Qaeda now in Pakistan a larger presence in Afghanistan was needed. However, Obama did not think that a full grown insurgency could work because of the differences in culture and landscape in Afgan and the fact that our enemy (Al Qaeda was not in Afghan.) ment that even if we killed every single Taliban (many of whom arent against us) we would not have killed one Al Qaeda (our real enemy). 4) The military brass (largely left over from Bush) did not care about these facts, insisted on doing its own thing, ignored the Commander and Chief and publicly made disparaging remarks about their president. Finally they coordinated with Republican strategists to get their way despite the constitution that they made an oath to defend. 5) This forced Obama to create a new middle ground strategy that is in our national interest.
It is almost amazing the degree of information that he is able to get. Listening to the book, I couldn't keep from wondering why people were still talking with Woodward. I think many of them are trying to shape the narrative, but the fact that Woodward talks to so many people and gets so many points of view prevents any one persons attempt to create a history of their liking
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41 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Joseph
- 11-16-10
Worth the listen
I'll admit, prior to reading this book, I didn't understand what was taking the president so long to decide on how to handle Afghanistan. This book very clearly explains the process that Obama forced our military and political leaders through. He very clearly and rationaly set the agenda and did his job. Of course there are always many sides to every story, so it is difficult to know whom to believe. As an independant voter I am no Obama supporter. However, if what was written in this book is true, then I have a new respect for our president and his handling of our troop deployment to Afghanistan.
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32 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Michael
- 10-17-10
A Very Intriguing Look Into A Misunderstood War
As with all Woodward books, this continues in the same mold. He gives an unprecedented view into a very secretive and highly classified process, even if it is after the fact. My viewpoint on Afghanistan has slightly changed as a result of listening to this audio book. While I vehemently oppose the war to this day, Woodward has explained the reason for it continuing and why we must succeed; he does this in an elaborately detailed web of compendious sources that make up the bigger picture.
As far as the narrator goes, Gaines is a genius! He has a specifically distinct tone and demeanor for the myriad of characters here. It's almost as if when Karzai is speaking, it's him and not Gaines I'm hearing. Gaines is extremely effective in this regard, and as a result, enhances Woodward's account.
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26 people found this helpful
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Overall
- tomselina
- 10-13-10
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.
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Overall
- Josh
- 11-06-10
Seems like the real deal
I have no idea what really goes on behind closed doors and neither do the rest of us but I think Woodward creates a believable piece of work here.
He makes you feel like you are there watching the whole thing happen. Being president is not, in my opinion, an enviable position. Choices between bad and worse, having to deal with lots of people with big egos motivated by self interest.
It's easy to see why he already has grey hair. The guy makes it 8 years he's going to look like Morgan Freeman.
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Overall
- Michael
- 11-12-10
An intriguing look under the hood!
I expected a book with a strong liberal bias, but found a history with little apparent bias given the currency of the topic. It should be required reading for all Americans.
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Overall
- Elton
- 11-10-10
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.
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Overall
- Cheryl
- 10-15-10
Tremendous !
I listened to this book 3 times and will probably listen to it again. Fascinating details and so well written.
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Overall
- Anonymous User
- 10-06-10
Obama's Wars
Absolutely just repeat after repeat of the same thing at a different place. After a while it is hard to know exactly what time they are speaking about because you have just finished listening to the same thing a few chapters back. I was most disappointed in this book but if you love detail after detail in similar circumstance- you will like this book. Good luck.
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