Bob Woodward indicated that former JCS Chairman and Secretary of State Colin Powell might get the nod to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense when Gates leaves in 2011.
| Dear God, no! Please let him realize that he he has already done all that duty requires, and more, and that it is time for younger men and women to take up the burden. |
Obama's Wars is Woodward's latest look at the innermost workings in and around Washington's halls of power, and the book gives some of the most detailed behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Obama White House to date.
Obama's Wars also highlights the personalities of those involved with carving out the current war strategy -- and the results aren't always flattering. For instance, the relationship between Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General James "Hoss" Cartwright, the Vice Chairman, "couldn't be more hostile".| Army vs. Navy? I'm quite certain they could be much more hostile. |
General Cartwright works with Vice President Biden -- and around Admiral Mullen -- developing a counterterrorism strategy that would use fewer troops and resources than the counter insurgency strategy. Mullen is incensed and balks at presenting it to Obama, to which Cartwright retorts, "I'm not in the business of withholding options."
| I didn't realize that Vice President Biden was a strategy maven. Which only goes to show the limits of my knowledge. |
General David Petraeus, who is CENTCOM Commander through most of the book, seems wedded to his own version of counterinsurgency and thinks fighting terrorist with nothing more than drones would make more enemies than allies. "This is a chainsaw not a stiletto," he says, referring to the Biden-Cartwright plan.
National Security Council chief Jim Jones, a former Commandant of the Marine Corps, challenges the Pentagon on the demand for more troops without an evaluation of the impact of the previous increase. |