As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the U.S. government from 2006 through mid-2008.
The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly opposes a surge of additional U.S. forces and confronts the president, who replies that her suggestions would lead to failure. The president keeps his decision to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from Vice President Dick Cheney until two days before he announces it. A retired Army general uses his high-level contacts to shape decisions about the war, as Bush and Cheney use him to deliver sensitive messages outside the chain of command.For months, the administration's strategy reviews continue in secret, with no deadline and no hurry, in part because public disclosure would harm Republicans in the November 2006 elections. National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley tells Rice, "We've got to do it under the radar screen because the electoral season is so hot.""The War Within" provides an exhaustive account of the struggles of General David Petraeus, who takes over in Iraq during one of the bleakest and most violent periods of the war. It reveals how breakthroughs in military operations and surveillance account for much of the progress as violence in Iraq plummets in the middle of 2007.Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Bob Woodward
Maurice Oginga –
This isn’t your typical emotional rollercoaster. Instead, it’s a sharp, thought-provoking collection of short stories that challenge the mind and shift perspectives. Each piece is crafted with intention, pulling the reader into unfamiliar territory and inviting them to think differently.
In a literary landscape often dominated by emotional manipulation, this book dares to be different. It doesn’t beg for your tears , it demands your attention, your reflection, and your intellect.
Eric Rugara’s voice is refreshing, intelligent, and unapologetically bold. He doesn’t just tell stories; he questions norms and encourages readers to do the same.
This is the kind of writing we need more of honest, layered, and deeply engaging.
Indeed, *stories follow people*.
Literature Guru –
This isn’t your typical emotional rollercoaster. Instead, it’s a sharp, thought-provoking collection of short stories that challenge the mind and shift perspectives. Each piece is crafted with intention, pulling the reader into unfamiliar territory and inviting them to think differently.
In a literary landscape often dominated by emotional manipulation, this book dares to be different. It doesn’t beg for your tears , it demands your attention, your reflection, and your intellect.
Eric Rugara’s voice is refreshing, intelligent, and unapologetically bold. He doesn’t just tell stories; he questions norms and encourages readers to do the same.
This is the kind of writing we need more of honest, layered, and deeply engaging.
Indeed, *stories follow people*.
Rehema Zuberi –
There is an audience this book is for and I know I am not fully one of them. It is a genre I struggle with because I feel it needs me to engage my mind more than I am willing to while reading. That said, this is a book one can easily clear off in a single sitting or a single day when time is dedicated to reading, that was my favourite bit about it. I love easy things.
There is a lot of dialogue in the stories (there are a whopping 22 of them if you don’t count the Acknowledgment and Foreword). Some stories only span over a page or two, like Birds which opens the collection.
While the stories seem to be independent, I found the characters to be merging from one story to another. In one of the stories I enjoyed, The Happyland Experience, I met a girl I was sure I had encountered previously (or came to encounter). What I am sure of is one barmaid named Jackeline kept appearing in most of the pub scenes. Ordinary Lives was another story that was quite ordinary but very well thought out and I loved going on the ordinary journey of discovery with it.
A Surreal Journey of Discovery is a book I believe each person needs to experience for themselves. There is something in it that only a person as themselves can reach.