Obama on Afghan War: "I'm Done doing This!"

Author Bob Woodward's sixteenth book is about to drop this coming Monday, and the excerpts that have been released are already causing an uproar.  The Obama Administration had given Woodward exceedingly open access to documents and personnel, as well as the Commander in Chief, in hopes that Woodward would paint a sympathetic picture of our 44th President.  It seems that they were wrong.

The New York Times was able to obtain quotes from the book, and they are damning.  The NYT suggests that the war in Afghanistan "divided" the Obama Administration and lead to arguments amongst the higher-ups.

In the excerpts, President Obama himself erupts in anger over the Afghan war.  When asked about sending in 4,500 more troops to save lives, the President got angry, yelling, "I’m done doing this!"  The President's decision to end Afghan war in 2011 is also shown as a political move.  Speaking about why he decided he cannot push back the 2011 withdrawal date, the President stated that he wanted to keep his liberal support.  “I can’t let this be a war without end, and I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party,” the President said.

The anger does not stop at the top.  In a heated conversation about Richard Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Vice President Joe Biden called him "the most egotistical bastard I've ever met."

Why would Biden say such a thing?  Because, according to Holbrooke, President Obama's strategy in Afghanistan "can't work."  Furthering the discontent inside the White House was Lt. General Douglas Lute, who said that Obama's decisions did not "add up."

Obviously, these quotes show an entirely different light than the Obama Administration was hoping for.

Woodward

Further discontent can be seen between Rahm Emanuel and former Intelligence Director Dennis Blair.  Mr. Blair warned the President and Mr. Emanuel that terrorists were being trained in Pakistan to attack the United States and Europe.  Emanuel responded, "You’re just trying to put this on us so it’s not your fault."  Clearly Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Blair were not on good terms, nor did Mr. Emanuel seemed concerned about the threat of terrorism.

With the book coming in just a few days, and these fireworks already going off, it will be very interesting to see what the rest has to say.

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