Bob Woodward: Obama Determined to Find Afghanistan Exit Strategy
Internal Disputes Mark White House War Debate
Sept. 22, 2010 -- A new book by legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward paints President Obama as a commander in chief who's searching for and demanding -- amid fierce internal debate among advisers and military leaders -- an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Watch ABC's Diane Sawyer's exclusive interview with Bob Woodward starting on Monday Sept. 27 on World News and continuing on Nightline and Good Morning America on Tuesday Sept 28
"Obama's Wars" hasn't hit store shelves yet, but copies have been leaked to the press. According to published reports, "Obama's Wars" says that the president decided to set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan because, he said, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party."
Traveling on Air Force One to New York today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters he read "Obama's Wars" in its entirely Tuesday night and could not think of a single element he would dispute as an error.
"I think that the book portrays a thoughtful, vigorous, policy process that led us to the best strategy to give us the best chance to achieve our objectives and goals in Afghanistan," Gibbs said. " I can't imagine that any option the president looked at would not have engendered some debate. That's the nature of this process.
"There was also robust discussion about how important it is in our national interest not to become involved in something in Afghansitan that was unlimited or open-ended."
To Obama's saying he wanted a war strategy that would not lose the entire Democratic Party, Gibbs said, "The president was not making a political argument. The president was making an argument in our national interest."
Gibbs repeated four times that he hopes people read the entire book.
"I think that the book portrays a thoughtful, vigorous, policy process that led us to the best strategy to give us the best chance to achieve our objectives and goals in Afghanistan," Gibbs said. " I can't imagine that any option the president looked at would not have engendered some debate. That's the nature of this process.
"There was also robust discussion about how important it is in our national interest not to become involved in something in Afghansitan that was unlimited or open-ended. "
But Democratic lawmakers have grown increasingly angry with the Democratic president's war policy. Nearly half the Democrats in the House of Representatives -- 102 members -- opposed a war-funding bill last June.
In "Obama's Wars," Woodward writes that in 2009, the president was intent on pursuing a way out of the war in Afghanistan. Obama is said to have pushed doggedly for an exit plan from his military advisers, only to be confounded when they offered plans that called for an increase in troops.
When his advisers did not offer a strategy that satisfied him, Obama "finally crafted his own strategy, dictating a classified six-page 'terms sheet' that sought to limit U.S. involvement," according to the Washington Post's write-up of "Obama's Wars." Woodward draws from interviews with top administration officials, detailed meeting notes and classified documents.
The New York Times reported on the book first. The Washington Post, Woodward's longtime employer, quickly followed suit.
"Obama's Wars" also details the squabbles between the president's top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, and his top adviser in the White House, David Axelrod, whom Petraeus reportedly called a "spin doctor."
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