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December 2, 2008 7:54:16 PM CST

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US 'Spied on Iraqi Leaders'

Posted Sep 5, 08 4:21 AM CDT in World,  US 

(Newser) – The Bush administration conducted an extensive spying operation on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders even while seeking to win their trust, according to a new book from the Washington Post's Bob Woodward. The book portrays an administration hamstrung by indecision as its Iraq strategy fell apart in 2006, and a detached president orchestrated "overconfident" briefings on the situation.

The Watergate reporter interviewed the president and dozens of other officials for The War Within: A Secret White House  History, 2006-2008. Woodward takes a critical look at the administration's policy and pronouncements on Iraq, concluding, among other things, that the surge was not the primary factor behind the reduction in violence. Bush "too often failed to lead," Woodward writes in a cutting epilogue assessing the president's performance.

Source Washington Post

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This photo released by Simon & Schuster shows the cover for the upcoming Bob Woodward book "The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008".   (AP Photo)
President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki listen as their statements are translated for reporters during a meeting in New York last year.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
In Woodward's new book, he states that Condoleezza Rice complained about "overconfident" briefings on Iraq from Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department.   (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki .   (AP Photo/Ali Yussef, Pool)
President Bush shakes hands with with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Bush makes a statement to reporters as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki looks on after a meeting last year.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Iraq • Iraq war • Bush administration • Nouri al-Maliki • Donald Rumsfeld • spying • Bob Woodward • Gen. George Casey


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