Obama’s Wars
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97 Obama later said that the worries: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
98 The next day the White House: White House press release, Statement on United States Troop Levels in Afghanistan, February 17, 2009, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/
2009/DCPD200900089.htm.
98 It was left to the Pentagon: Defense Department press release, DOD Announces Afghanistan Force Deployment, February 17, 2009, http://www.defense.gov.
CHAPTER TEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with seven firsthand sources.
109 Obama put on his jacket: Scott Wilson, “Obama, in Calif., Says He Hopes to Return ‘Balance’ to Economy,” The Washington Post, March 19, 2009, p. A6.
109 Taping The Tonight Show that afternoon: Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 19, 2009, Interview with Jay Leno of The Tonight Show in Burbank, California, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/
2009/DCPD200900173.htm.
109 Later, the president confirmed: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with seventeen firsthand sources.
112 About her conversation with Petraeus: Author interview with Helen Thomas, January, 2010.
113 At 9:40 the next morning: Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 27, 2009, Remarks on United States Military and Diplomatic Strategies for Afghanistan and Pakistan, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/
2009/DCPD-200900196.htm.
113 A Washington Post editorial: “The Price of Realism,” The Washington Post, March 29, 2008, p. A12.
113 A New York Times editorial: “The Remembered War,” The New York Times, March 28, 2009, p. A20.
114 Secretary of Defense Gates seemed: Secretary Robert Gates Interview with Fox News, FOX News Sunday, March 29, 2009, http://www.defense.gov/transcripts.
116 Later Obama told me: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
119 In late April, Admiral Mullen: Fisnik Abrashi, “Top Pentagon Commander in Afghanistan,” AP Worldstream, April 22, 2009; Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Pentagon Worries Led to Command Change,” The Washington Post, August 17, 2009, p. A1.
119 McKiernan had given his word: Author interview with Colonel Julian “Dale” Alford, December 1, 2009.
119 At a Monday, May 11, Pentagon press conference: Press Conference with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen on Leadership Changes in Afghanistan, May 11, 2009, http://www.defense.gov/transcripts.
120 On the choice of McChrystal: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
121 The headline on this item read: Author’s dictated notes of a Top Secret document dated May 26, 2009.
122 On September 19, 2009, agents: Al Baker and Karen Zraick, “F.B.I. Searches Colorado Home of Man in Terror Inquiry That Reached Queens,” The New York Times, September 17, 2009; Anne E. Kornblut, “Obama Team Says Zazi Case Illustrates Balanced Approach to Terror Threat,” The Washington Post, October 6, 2009, p. A8.
122 Chicago resident David Coleman Headley: David Johnston, “2 in Chicago Held in Plot to Attack in Denmark,” The New York Times, October 28, 2009, p. A18; Ginger Thompson, “A Terror Suspect with Feet in East and West,” The New York Times, November 22, 2009, p. A1.
123 When I later asked the president: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
123 In his prepared remarks: Federal News Service, Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subject: Nomination of … Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, USA, to be General and Commander, International Security Assistance Force, and Commander, U.S. Forces, Afghanistan, June 2, 2009.
124 As President Obama spoke: Scott Wilson, “History … Has Always Been Up to Us,” The Washington Post, June 7, 2009, p. A1.
125 That next Monday, June 8: News Briefing with Geoff Morrell, June 8, 2009, http://www.defense.gov/transcripts.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with nine firsthand sources.
127 During an hour-long conversation: Author interview with retired General Jim Jones, June 21, 2009.
128 As I entered the spacious office: Author interview with President Hamid Karzai, June 23, 2009.
129 Goldstein records how: Gordon M. Goldstein, Lessons in Disaster (New York: Times Books, 2008), p. 97.
130 In the morning, the commander: Author conversation with Brigadier General Lawrence Nicholson, retired General Jim Jones and others.
130 Corporal Matthew Lembke: Chris Brummitt, “Stalemate in Afghan Ghost Town Shows Task Ahead,” Associated Press Worldstream, July 1, 2009; Julie Sullivan, “Family Keeps Faith, as Marine Would Want,” The Oregonian, July 8, 2009.
131 Lembke was airlifted: William Cole, “Marine Dies of Injuries in Afghan Roadside Blast,” The Honolulu Advertiser, July 11, 2009.
131 The Oregon governor honored: Press release from the office of the governor of Oregon, “Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff in Memory of Oregon Soldier,” July 16, 2009.
131 Lembke was: Josh Boak phone conversation with Anna Richter Taylor, press secretary for Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, July 27, 2010.
131 Five months later: Richard A. Oppel, Jr., “Marines Lead Offensive to Secure Southern Afghan Town,” The New York Times, December 5, 2009, p. A9.
131 Later that morning, Nicholson: On-the-record briefing attended by the author. See also: Bob Woodward, “Key in Afghanistan: Economy, Not Military,” The Washington Post, July 1, 2009, p. A1.
135 In a meeting, the PRT leaders: Meeting attended by the author.
136 As a first step, he called in: Press conference attended by the author.
136 Zardari sat between two photographs: Author interview with President Asif Ali Zardari.
139 Zinni thought he had been offered: Barbara Slavin, “Zinni Says Iraq Ambassador Job Offer Was Retracted,” The Washington Times, February 4, 2009, p. A13; Eric Schmitt and Mark Landler, “General Says Iraq Envoy Job Was Offered, Then Retracted,” The New York Times, February 6, 2009, P. A8.
140 A few days after returning: Bob Woodward, “Key in Afghanistan: Economy, Not Military,” The Washington Post, July 1, 2009, p. A1.
142 Mullen then gave an interview: Ann Scott Tyson, “No Limit in Place for Pending Request on Troops in Afghanistan,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2009, p. A10.
142 At his daily briefing: White House press briefing by Robert Gibbs, July 1, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov.
143 In a column for The Weekly Standard: William Kristol, “A Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Presidency?” The Weekly Standard, September 21, 2009 (Vol. 15, No. 1).
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with 13 firsthand sources.
146 The classified SIP was signed: Author’s review and dictated notes of the July 17, 2009, Strategic Implementation Plan.
146 But in public, Holbrooke downplayed: Richard Holbrooke, Special Briefing on July 2009 Trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Brussels, July 29, 2009, http://www.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rmks
/2009/126669.htm.
149 McChrystal’s staff had hastily organized:
Members of the McChrystal review team:
General Stanley McChrystal
Colonel Chris Kolenda, review coordinator
Colonel Daniel Pick, assistant review coordinator
Stephen Biddle, Council on Foreign Relations
Anthony Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Catherine Dale, Congressional Research Service
Étienne de Durand, Institut Français des Relations Internationales
Andrew Exum, Center for a New American Security
Fred Kagan, American Enterprise Institute
Kimberly Kagan, Institute for the Study of War
Whitney Kassel, U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense
/>
Terry Kelly, The RAND Corporation
Luis Peral, European Union Institute for Strategic Studies
Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Prupas, U.S. Air Force, CentCom
153 McChrystal soon became the chief: Dexter Filkins, “His Long War,” The New York Times Magazine, October 18, 2009, p. 36.
154 The Washington Post called the report: Ann Scott Tyson, “General: Afghan Situation ‘Serious,’” The Washington Post, September 1, 2009, p. A1.
154 The New York Times warned: Peter Baker and Dexter Filkins, “Obama to Weigh Buildup Option in Afghan War,” The New York Times, September 1, 2009, p. A1.
154 McChrystal had signed off: Ann Scott Tyson, “9 Officers Blamed in Tillman Death, but No Coverup Found,” The Washington Post, March 27, 2007, p. A2.
154 The issue resurfaced: Federal News Service, Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subject: Nomination of … Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, USA, to be General and Commander, International Security Assistance Force, and Commander, U.S. Forces, Afghanistan, June 2, 2009.
155 In August, members of the Senate: Nahal Toosi, “McCain Calls for More US Troops in Afghanistan,” Associated Press, August 18, 2009.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with nine firsthand sources.
157 Petraeus read a September 2 column: David Ignatius, “A Middle Way on Afghanistan?” The Washington Post, September 2, 2009, p. A17.
158 Rebutting Ignatius’s critique: Michael Gerson, “In Afghanistan, No Choice but to Try,” The Washington Post, September 4, 2009, p. A23.
159 The vice president had flown: Michael Finnegan, “Biden Helps Boxer Raise Reelection Funds,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2009, p. A42; Thomas Hines, “Memorial at Dodger Stadium Honors Fallen Firefighters,” San Gabriel Valley Tribune, September 12, 2009.
160 Obama later explained to me: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
161 Obama had read McChrystal’s: Author’s review of the SECRET assessment.
170 Instead, the CentCom commander: http://www.nfl.com.
171 On Monday, September 14, a long op-ed: Lindsey Graham, Joseph I. Lieberman and John McCain, “Only Decisive Force Can Prevail in Afghanistan,” The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2009, p. A15.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with eight firsthand sources.
172 Admiral Mullen appeared: Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subject: Nomination of Admiral Michael Mullen for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, September 15, 2009.
172 “The Taliban insurgency grows”: Ibid.
173 The chairman had a Facebook page: See http://www.facebook.com/admiralmikemullen; http://twitter.com/THEJOINTSTAFF; http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EC6B9257769B13D0; and http://www.defense.gov/home/features
/2008/0708_mullen1/.
174 “Mullen: More Troops ‘Probably’ Needed”: Ann Scott Tyson, “Mullen: More Troops ‘Probably’ Needed,” The Washington Post, September 16, 2009, p. A1.
176 On the second page: Author’s review of the classified Commander International Security Assistance Force Initial Assessment. A searchable copy declassified by the Defense Department on September 20, 2009, is available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn
/content/article/2009/09/21
/AR2009092100110.html?sid=ST2009092003140.
177 Because of “inadequate intelligence”: Ibid. The nonredacted sentence reads, “The insurgents control or contest a significant portion of the country, although it is difficult to assess precisely how much due to a lack of ISAF presence and inadequate intelligence.” (Emphasis added.)
179 The June 30, 1971, Supreme Court: R. W. Apple, Jr., “Times Topics: Pentagon Papers,” The New York Times, June 23, 1996, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/
timestopics/subjects/p/pentagon_papers/index.html.
179 I reached General Jones: Author phone call with General Jim Jones, September 19, 2009.
180 Within an hour: Author conference call with Marcus Brauchli, a Washington Post lawyer, Secretary Gates, General Jones, Tom Donilon and General James E. Cartwright, September 19, 2009.
181 At a press conference two weeks earlier: Press conference with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen, September 3, 2009, http://www.defense.gov/transcripts.
181 In addition, Obama was appearing on five: “Highlights,” The Washington Post, September 19, 2009, p. C8.
181 On Sunday, Brauchli: Eleven A.M. meeting at the Pentagon attended by the author, Marcus Brauchli, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, General Cartwright, Geoff Morrell and Michèle Flournoy, September 20, 2009.
182 Brauchli noted that Gates and others: Federal News Service, Hearing of the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subject: Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 2010, Witnesses: Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, June 9, 2009.
182 That evening, the Pentagon provided: Both a PDF version (http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092100110.html
?sid=ST2009092003140) of the assessment are available on the Washington Post’s Web site. 182 The headline in the September 21: Bob Woodward, “McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure,’” The Washington Post, September 21, 2009, p. A1.
182 Within a few minutes, The New York Times: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, “General Calls for More Troops to Avoid Afghanistan Failure,” The New York Times, September 21, 2009, p. A1.
183 Retired Army Colonel Pat Lang: Pat Lang, “An Interesting Monday,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), September 21, 2009, http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic
_semper_tyrannis/2009/09/an-interesting
-monday.html.
183 Peter Feaver, who had been on: Peter Feaver, “Bob Woodward Strikes Again! (McChrystal assessment edition),” Shadow Government (blog), September 21, 2009, http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/
2009/09/21/bob_woodward_strikes_again
_mcchrystal_assessment_edition.
183 At the morning press briefing: Air Force One press gaggle by Robert Gibbs, September 21, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov.
183 In my interview with the president: Interview with President Barack H. Obama, July 10, 2010.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with 14 firsthand sources.
186 It had already appeared: Brad Knickerbocker, “Obama Faces Critical Decision on How to Proceed in Afghanistan,” Christian Science Monitor, September 26, 2009, p. 10; Elisabeth Bumiller, “Top Officers Weigh Need to Increase Troop Levels,” New York Times, September 26, 2009, p. A4.
186 At 3 P.M. on Wednesday, September 30: Peter Baker, “Inside the Situation Room: How a War Plan Evolved,” The New York Times, December 6, 2009, p. A1.
192 The 11-page document: Author’s review and dictated notes of “Resourcing the ISAF implementation strategy,” General McChrystal’s SECRET/NOFORM September 24, 2009, troop request.
192 McChrystal listed three: Ibid.
193 Around that time, the CBS show: David Martin, “McChrystal’s Frank Talk on Afghanistan,” 60 Minutes, CBS, September 27, 2009.
193 The bloggers pounced: Peter Baker, “From General’s Mouth to Obama’s Ear,” The New York Times, September 30, 2009, p. A12.
193 Obama was flying: Peter Slevin, “Obama’s Personal Bid for the Olympics,” The Washington Post, September 20, 2009, p. A1.
193 During McChrystal’s October 1 speech: General Stanley McChrystal, special address on Afghanistan to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), October 1, 2009, http://www.iiss.org/recent-key-addresses/general-stanley-mcchrystal-address/.
193 After his prepared remarks: John F. Burns, “Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Rejects Scaling Down Military Objectives,” The Washington Post, Octo
ber 2, 2009, p. A12.
194 Obama and McChrystal met: Michael D. Shear, “McChrystal Flown to Denmark to Discuss War with Obama,” The Washington Post, October 3, 2009, p. A4; Peter Baker, “Obama Meets Top Afghan Commander as He Mulls Change in War Strategy,” The New York Times, October 3, 2009, p. A6.
195 In his 1995 book, In Retrospect: Robert S. McNamara, In Retrospect (New York: Vintage, 1996), pp. 187–88.
198 The criticism had grown so intense: Karen DeYoung, “In Frenetic White House, a Low-Key ‘Outsider,’” The Washington Post, May 7, 2009, p. A1; Helene Cooper, “National Security Adviser Takes Less Visible Approach to His Job,” The New York Times, May 7, 2009, p. A10.
198 On June 11, Fox News: “Jones on the Outs with Obama?” Fox News, June 11, 2009, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/11/
jones-outs-obama-gates-defends-
national-security-adviser/.
198 On October 1, the day of the McChrystal speech: White House press release, Deputy National Security Adviser, NSC Chief of Staff Mark Lippert Returning to Active Duty in the US Navy, October 1, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov.
198 Jones was quoted as saying: Ibid. 201 It reimbursed allies: “Combating Terrorism: Increased Oversight and Accountability Needed over Pakistan Reimbursement Claims for Coalition Support Funds,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-806.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with 13 firsthand sources.
204 Clinton and Gates went off: Roundtable discussion with Secretary Gates, Secretary Clinton, Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno, October 5, 2009, http://www.gwu.edu/explore/aboutgw/
thegwexperience/secretariesgatesc
lintondiscussdefenseanddiplomacy.
204 At 2:30 P.M. on October 6: See Scott Wilson, “Afghan Strategy Divides Lawmakers,” The Washington Post, October 7, 2009, p. A1.