Who Leaked to Woodward? Good Luck

National debate is needed to build consensus

(NEWSER) - President Obama may not want to hear from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, but Congress certainly does, writes Peggy Noonan, and he should let them. Staying on in Afghanistan and withdrawing are both unappealing options that could have dire consequences, and even though the Pentagon doesn't want to do it, the country deserves to have congressional hearings on considered strategies, Noonan argues in the Wall Street Journal. More»

Pentagon got one-day delay, and redacted McChrystal report

(NEWSER) - When Bob Woodward obtained Gen. Stanley McChrystal's classified report on Afghanistan, the Obama administration asked for and got a one-day delay in publication from the Washington Post, the paper reports. Woodward and the Post’s editor met with Pentagon officials Sunday and agreed to remove some sensitive information from the published document. Woodward says officials “did a wholesale declassification of 98%” of the report, and released it to the Post. More»

Bob Woodward book reveals deep fault lines over war policy

(NEWSER) - The Obama White House is a simmering pot of anger and disagreement, with too many bickering chefs handling of the war in Afghanistan, according to a new book by Bob Woodward that exposes deep rifts in the administration. Here, via the New York Times , are some of the juicy bits from Obama's Wars:

• Vice-President Joe Biden thinks Richard Holbrooke, the administration's special rep for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is “the most egotistical bastard I’ve ever met."

Administration fears time is running out to stop Taliban

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration has more than doubled the number of special forces in Afghanistan, tasking them with hunting down Taliban leaders—in part because it’s worried that the US has a dwindling window to defang the insurgency before its scheduled 2011 withdrawal, senior officials tell the LA Times . They’re also hoping that eliminating Taliban leaders will push more insurgent fighters to defect. More»

Prez was relentless in analyzing every angle

(NEWSER) - Amid cries of "dithering" and the silent finality of Arlington's rows of white tombstones, President Obama calmly, analytically, and exhaustively reviewed all options in Afghanistan before finally announcing to his team on Nov. 29 that he would send in 30,000 more troops. The New York Times retraces the president's steps in a lengthy retelling. Highlights: More»