Bob Woodward's latest book, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, has just hit the shelves and as usual, contains some incredible
September 9, 2008

Bob Woodward's latest book, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, has just hit the shelves and as usual, contains some incredible new facts about President Bush's style of "leadership" and decision-making. On 60 Minutes Sunday, Woodward sat down with Scott Pelley and dropped the bombshell that the idea of the surge came from the White House and was vehemently opposed by the top military brass.

"What does General Casey, sitting in Baghdad, think of having additional troops?" Pelley asked.

"He thinks that Baghdad is a troop sump-a place you can put endless numbers of troops in. And he does not want to add force," Woodward said.

"The president, who has said in public, endless times, that he relies on his generals to tell him what they need, is actually going his own way here," Pelley remarked.

"That's right," Woodward agreed. "The records of the joint chiefs show that the idea of five brigades came from the White House, not from anybody except the White House."

So much for listening to the Generals on the ground.

And then there's this from the Washington Post:

In response to a question about how the White House settled on a troop surge of five brigades after the military leadership in Washington had reluctantly said it could provide two, Bush said: "Okay, I don't know this. I'm not in these meetings, you'll be happy to hear, because I got other things to do."

There's Bush presidential leadership in a nutshell for you: In perhaps the most important decision of his entire presidency - the decision to double down on a failed war, putting the lives of tens of thousands of Americans and Iraqis at risk -- Bush, by his own admission, has "other things to do."

I wonder if Cheney is gonna call Woodward and curse him out again.

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