Woodward: Military Brass Opposed Surge

Also Tells 60 Minutes U.S. Has Secret Military Capability; And That U.S. Has Been Spying On Iraq's PM

(CBS)  A year and a half since the surge in Iraq, violence is the lowest it has been since the invasion. The idea of throwing another 30,000 troops into Iraq was a desperate gamble in a dark time. And only now are we finding out just how much opposition there was by the nation's top military leaders. That's among the revelations in a new book by Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward.

"The War Within" is Woodward's fourth insider account from the Bush White House.

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley sat down with Woodward for his first interview in advance of the book's release and asked him about the war within the administration after the surge was proposed by civilians in the White House.

---

Asked what the generals at the Pentagon thought when presented with the idea of a surge, Woodward told Pelley, "They think that it won't work. And the president actually at one point goes and meets with them. And the Army chief of staff, General [Peter] Schoomaker, says 'You can't add five brigades, it will take many more,' 'What about another crisis?' 'We don't have troops for this,' 'What about the damage your doing to the force, the young kids who see nothing but endless rotations?'"

"What does General Casey, sitting in Baghdad, think of having additional troops?" Pelley asked.

"He thinks that Baghdad is a troop sump-a place you can put endless numbers of troops in. And he does not want to add force," Woodward said.

"The president, who has said in public, endless times, that he relies on his generals to tell him what they need, is actually going his own way here," Pelley remarked.

"That's right," Woodward agreed. "The records of the joint chiefs show that the idea of five brigades came from the White House, not from anybody except the White House."

"The War Within," published by CBS-owned Simon & Schuster, tracks the growing alarm inside the White House in 2006, as U.S. casualties mounted during Iraq’s plunge toward civil war. The book is based on more than 150 interviews, including recorded conversations with the president. Mr. Bush told Woodward that he was frustrated with his commanders - and asked for enemy body counts so he could keep score.

"I ask that, on occasion, to find out whether or not we were fighting back. Because the perception is that our guys are dying and they're not, because we don't put out numbers. We don't have a tally. On the other hand, if I'm sitting here watching the casualties come in, I'd at least like to know whether or not our soldiers are fighting," the president explained in one of Woodward's recorded interviews.

"It gets so intense that in one of the secure video conferences between Washington and Baghdad the president says to Casey, 'George, we're not playing for a tie.' And Casey's knuckles, according to witnesses, literally go white as he's gripping the table. And he says, 'No Mr. President. We are not playing for a tie.' And this is Bush's concern that we're not going out and killing; in fact, Casey told one colleague privately that the president's view is almost reflective of 'Kill the bastards. Kill the bastards,' and that way we'll succeed," Woodward told Pelley.

"You've obtained a number of documents, classified secret that the president was receiving in this period of time. What was the president hearing about what was going on in Iraq?" Pelley asked.

"On July 20th, the top secret special compartmented information report that went directly to him quotes from an intelligence report saying, 'Violence is so out of hand, so extensive that it is self-sustaining,'" Woodward said.

Woodward reports that a secret study for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2006 concluded that the U.S. was losing the war, but the president didn't give a hint of that in public.

"Absolutely we're winning," the president said. "We're winning and we will win unless we leave before the job is done."

"Why do you think that the president didn't level with the American people in this dark period in this war?" Pelley asked.

"Because he wanted it to work," Woodward explained. "Did not wanna deflate the morale of the troops. And there was a political election coming up. The November 2006 Congressional elections. It was a raw, political calculation that if you tell the public - or let it get out - that they are reconsidering what they're doing, that they're acknowledging that it's not going well, all political hell would break loose."

[kevitivity]

When is 60 minutes going to have McCain and Palin on?

[nilent]

Hmmmmm, lets see, what could it be?

How about micro-miniaturized cameras/microphones numbering in the millions that wirelessly send the data to massive computers programmed with AI to screen every word spoken and every face seen so that "suspicious" talk and wanted individuals can be spotted, isolated and "taken out"? (Hey wait, aren''t those called cell phones! ;-)

If it doesn''t exist now; you can be sure someone in DIA is working on it.

Unfortunately, real/long term security can never be obtained by military means.


Real global security comes from universal peace, prosperity, freedom and the diligent practice of common human decency.

Kucinich''s idea of a department of peace is a good one.

Ironically, the violence and spiritual degradation of a militaristic authoritarian dictatorship in which people obey out of fear is that it breeds the very terrorism that it pretends to be opposed to.

[nilent]

A humanity that buys into a paranoia based "security" will wind up extinct as we kill each other off in all manner of new ways and for all manner of new "reasons".

Love may not be "all you need"; but it sure is a good place to start from.

The Bush/McCain/Rove/Admiral Poindexter model for "security" isn''t, in the long run, much different from that of Joseph Stalin. Only now the art/technology of being able to kill anyone anywhere anytime has been refined to more of a "science".

Congratulations, George Bush!

What good is it if we "win the war" by simply killing everyone who stands in our way if we end up losing our souls as Americans???

And let us not forget that Russia and China just might object to our new found killing capabilities.

Sorry folks; we humans will either learn to live peacefully together on this planet or we will become extinct.

[jjworleyeoe-2009]

nicklento, you need to pay more attention to why the bad guys hate us. They hate us, among other reasons, because the we believes in secular governments. They hated us before 9/11, before the original WTT bombings, before we kicked Saddam out of Kuwait, before the Iranian Revolution, before the CIA coupe of Iran, before Israel became a state, and on and on. So while the Bush administration''s willingness to fight the bad guys on their own turf is creating new Jihadist, at least its taking them out and not letting them have safe havens to plan their next big attack. Finally, a big love fest isn''t going to bring these bad guys to the negotiating table either.

[jjworleyeoe-2009]

nicklento, you need to pay more attention to why the bad guys hate us. They hate us, among other reasons, because the we believes in secular governments. They hated us before 9/11, before the original WTT bombings, before we kicked Saddam out of Kuwait, before the Iranian Revolution, before the CIA coupe of Iran, before Israel became a state, and on and on. So while the Bush administration''s willingness to fight the bad guys on their own turf is creating new Jihadist, at least its taking them out and not letting them have safe havens to plan their next big attack. Finally, a big love fest isn''t going to bring these bad guys to the negotiating table either.

[anonymous197]

Nicklento, your ignorance not only of the geo-political situation but also of basic human nature is astounding. We (humanity) has been in a state of war with brief periods of peace throughout our known history. It must pain you to actually THINK. We need advantages in this world to SURVIVE. We don''t need to look to Russia OR China for approval.

[anonymous197]

Oh, and Nickoleto... again, read a little more. DIA doesn''t have a robust S&T. That would be outsourced to PRIVATE COMPANIES. DIA doesn''t do tech exploitation either you ****. You''ve seen too many movies.

[longbowah64]

Well here you go again. I have finally decided that we are no longer to view any of the CBS shows and I like others have decided that buying anything from your sponsors makes no sense. If they agree with you and your obvious bias I can be biased too. NO More MONEY from me or any member of my family. Simple, but I suddenly feel good about NOT needing those products in my life!

[beemerburner]

ONCE AGAIN, Woodward helps to destroy America and give aid to those we are after. He should be taken into custody with charges of Treason brought against him. His source (s) should have the same fate. Upon being found guilty, nothing less then the Death Penalty should be sanctioned! Thank you Woodward for making the U.S. WEAKER!!!

[khanghi-2009]

Once again, you have ALL missed the point!

"It''s the liberals!"
"No! It''s the conservatives!"
"It''s the left!"
"It''s the right!"

Actually boys and girls, it''s the IDIOTS that refuse to educate themselves! Go read PNAC and then come back when you realize that BOTH sides of the aisle are populated by treasonous ****** that should tried for selling out our country to big business. (Oil)

Until then, you''re ALL just drinking the Kool-aid!

[dougg27]

What?!! Our military has secret capabilities??!! Well duh!! I sure HOPE so!!! What a buffoon!

While my first reaction was to wish Mr. Woodward would stumble upon one of our special forces folks in a dark alley...I take solace in the hope that our military leadership is right now laughing uncontrollably over their success in feeding him misleading information. Knowing his liberal & treasonous tendencies, they could easily be "playing" him in order to get into the heads of enemy leaders.

Either way...Traitor Bob and 60 Minutes don''t come off looking so good in my book!

[mrflavor69]

Scientists to study synthetic telepathy

Researchers get grant to develop communication system based on thoughts, not speech.

Irvine, Calif., August 13, 2008

University of California, Irvine:

"A team of UC Irvine scientists has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Army Research Office to study the neuroscientific and signal-processing foundations of synthetic telepathy".

http://www.daprocess.com

[mrflavor69]

Scientists to study synthetic telepathy

Researchers get grant to develop communication system based on thoughts, not speech.

Irvine, Calif., August 13, 2008

University of California, Irvine:

"A team of UC Irvine scientists has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Army Research Office to study the neuroscientific and signal-processing foundations of synthetic telepathy".

http://www.daprocess.com

[gce65]

So once again we learn that Bush doesn''t listen to his top military advisors, but does what HE wants instead.

Whether the Surge worked or not--they still haven''t reached all the objectives--we''ve still been in Iraq for 5+ years and have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars there. Iraq will always be known as Bush''s Folly.

[littlewilly9]

Woodward should be charged with treason and collaborating with the enemy. Does he think that noone overseas reads our newspapers or watches our television. All he does is bring down the morale of our troops and has never backed our country. He got lucky with Nixon but what has he actually done for the country?

[ggforo]

I listened to Woodward and Pelli for a few minutes and it literally made me ill. Who do you think you are helping or educating by running this story? You really frighten me, as a mother of a Marine, this reporter, author and producers are not Americans in my eyes. I''ll write my feelings to your sponsors too. God, you should be so ashamed, all.

[ilroy]

I can''t believe how biased 60 minutes and CBS has become. They are selling out our country with their leftist bias slants. Shame on CBS. As always, shame on Woodward.

[nzrqv7]

So once again we learn that Bush doesn''''t listen to his top military advisors, but does what HE wants instead.

Whether the Surge worked or not--they still haven''''t reached all the objectives--we''''ve still been in Iraq for 5+ years and have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars there. Iraq will always be known as Bush''''s Folly.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by gce65 at 07:16 PM : Sep 07, 2008

Lincoln did the same thing. So did FDR. So did Truman. That''s why they are called the Commander-In-Chief.

For people like you, there is absolutely nothing, short of resignation or death, that Bush can do correctly. While many may not like him, be big enough to give credit where credit is due. Bush was using the resources he had available to make tough decisions. You and I can armchair quarterback this, but as Woodwards article makes abundantly clear...you, I, and everyone else really don''t have a clue as to what is going on.

[liberalamer]

I am appalled by the audacity of Woodward and CBS to show that they value so poorly our Nation as to actively work to undermine the well being of citizens, specifically our troops - you disgust me. Why would you give our Military Secrets to our enemies?? I am boycotting CBS & will inform commercial sponsors as well

[hermary]

Congrats Scott, another anti-america/anti-administration story. You never let us down. Get your money back on the eye job, they did not do you any favors.

[liberalme]

For people like you, there is absolutely nothing, short of resignation or death, that Bush can do correctly.

Posted by nzrqv7

Speaking for myself--this is absolute FACT!!!!!!!!!

[vechibless]

'' .. i had an horrible dream, i was on some sparcely traveled trail, feeling lost, and hungry, and i says to some small girl huvan, i''m hungry, and she says: and you want what, some handout, some directions to some more populated venue, if you''ve got some money i''ll give you some crumbs, and if you''ve no money, i''ll take your baby, cause the likes of you''ve got no place with any baby, especially if you''ve no crumbs to throw at it, and after i''d said i''d no money, she wistled and all these helicopters and tanks and thugs with guns appeared, she quickly fired three cage companys, scolded four others, made a purchace from one before scolding them for their other offerings, she then fired some arresting officet teams, and scolded some more before purchasing from another and then scolding them for their alternative selections, then she had me arrested and started firing judges and jurys and attorneys .. ''

'' .. a grain of sand is a map of forever, a book of infinite maps of each of the infinte forevers in forever, to look on sand as something as less than eternity herself is the same as to look on eternity herself as less than a grain of sand, the two are indistinguishable, except in the interpretations of the eyes and ears of hearts and minds .. ''

[johnarmesto]

I Can not believe CBS doing this to our troops. How do you think spying on Iraqi leaders is going to go over in Iraq. You obviously do not care about America. We the people now have a mission to boycott CBS and the Democratic party you are run by. You will sell this country to the terroists to blaspheme Bush. I only hope the next attack is on your headquarters in NYC.

[mbskoczen]

Another anti Bush administration hit piece by the CBS...

Remember this 95% of the media consitor themselves liberals. So is it no wonder what you see on CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, CNN, The New York Times..

Look what these networks are trying to harm Sarah Patin, before she was even introduced...

The Media is in the tank for Obama.. Don''t be fooled.

[toolmangler-2009]

BOTH sides of the aisle are populated by treasonous ****** that should tried for selling out our country to big business. (Oil)
Until then, you''''re ALL just drinking the Kool-aid!
Posted by Khanghi at 11:41 PM : Sep 06, 2008



Excellent post. Remember, these are the ''blind'' that ''will not see'' not that they cannot.

[crazybob9]

There''s a piece of equipment that operates a bit like a police laser speed gun, which uses the Doppler effect to measure the movement of things like panes of glass or walls, in response to sound. Using a piece of equipment like this, an infrared beam is aimed at a window, for example, and the sound within the window''s room can be monitored and recorded. The CIA building is protected against this type of surveillance, so it would be surprising to find other governments not using this protection.

Of course, the fact that Bob Woodward is talking about American measures that are secret and sensitive that give them the upper hand against terrorists is in itself a weapon of psychological operations against the enemy. I think it goes without saying that the US Government and DARPA have developed things that would be considered science fiction (and even outrageous) if the public found out about them. Bob Woodward would not be talking publicly about sensitive technology and techniques unless the Bush Administration wanted him to. Google "electronic harassment" sometime. You''ll run into a lot of delusional b.s., but there''s a grain of truth to some of that stuff, and don''t think that the military isn''t putting that technology to use -- hopefully for good and not evil purposes.

[mbskoczen]

Woodward would have given away the secrets to the Manhattan Project if it would help his career and liberal agenda..

[rpatrick61]

Congratulations Bob Woodward and CBS. You''ve just prompted our enemies to probe into what secret new capability we have to find their leaders.

And while I''m at it, who''s more stupid...Woodward for sharing this information through his book or every person he interviewed that allowed him to gather this information together. Bottom line...our troops are less safe going forward w/ Woodward''s book and comments then before. Congrats Bob, if your trying to play a spoiler at the expense of our forces on the ground, your succeeding. TRAITOR!

[will20081]

6o minutes blows my mind when you push for someone to reveal information that could compromise our national effort, such as Bob Woodward. I do not understand why you reports want to be the one to leak information to an enemy. We the public DO NOT NEED TO KNOW. Err on the side of saving our men and womens lives and shorting the war in Iraq. At times I tink 60 Minutes is Un-American. I have watched 60 Minutes for about as long as it has been on the air.

[kybluecaton]

I have never heard such an unsubstantiated full of holes report in my life and your newsman sucked it up like the prostitute he is. He said ... she said .. blah blah and given the credence as if the Pope was your contact ... not Deepthroat-type, which was appropriately characterized. Why don''t the so called reporters ask for pertinent data than " whatelse did you hear" type of BS. This SOB has spent his entire career to *** himself off to degrade this country. Nothing would make him happier than to bring down this government, no matter who was at the reigns, to better himself and you CBS would wet your pants at the opportunity to have his interview no matter if there was any substance to it or not. Dan Rather got his *** handed to him by trying to do the same and yours should be shortly coming. You and most all media ******, except for possibly FOX, need to be living in a country that does not put up with your *** and would hand your head to you .... would not mind seeing that on FOX News. I have watched my last 60 Minutes ...... so Good Night Morley, Andy ... and Jerry Springer ( who would fit right in with your cast)

[thinblu]

I think Woodward is a traitor, and all of you at CBS news would be the people that broadcast the invasion of Normandy the day before we put our soldiers in harms way....unbelievable!

[gburdick1]

I am sickened by your story with Bob Woodward. You have succeeded in confirming your standing among the liberal media. Why would you take his side of the ''story'' and present it as is? Why wouldn''t you spend a similar amount of energy exploring the ''rest of the story'', for example the positive movements in the war? Exposing even the possibility of breakthrough in military tactic or technology is irresponsible on your part and you know it. My opinion of you has greatly declined.

[rpatrick61]

Congratulations Bob Woodward and CBS. You''ve just prompted our enemies to probe into what secret new capability we have to find their leaders.

And while I''m at it, who''s more stupid...Woodward for sharing this information through his book or every person he interviewed that allowed him to gather this information together. Bottom line...our troops are less safe going forward w/ Woodward''s book and comments then before. Congrats Bob, if your trying to play a spoiler at the expense of our forces on the ground, your succeeding. TRAITOR!

[hartwickcbs]

First of Scott Pelley is insufferable. What a smug *** ***. Anyway, why Bob Woodward felt the need to tell us about a highly sucesssful program helping our troops in Iraq is beyond me. Now that we all know about this program how is this a good thing. And I''m sorry but ofcourse we spy on Malaki. We and everyone else in the world does it to. Malaki is a big boy and can handle it. I''m sorry I''ve always enjoyed Mr. Woodwards books and commentation,but on this I dont know why we needed to know all this unless you were selling a book. And again Scott Pelley is a insufferable smug *** piece of ***.

[thinblu]

Bunch of Communist traitors at CBS. Communist Broadcasting Service. Wouldn''t you just love to broadcast all our military''s secrets! Ad the sad thing is, you''d feel justified in doing it.
Pack of idiots.

[jmurrieta11]

"ONCE AGAIN, Woodward helps to destroy America"



Once AGAIN??

You mean when he exposed Nixon''s traitorous actions, it was the same thing?

[sharncedar]

"The War Within" is Woodward''s fourth insider account from the Bush White House"

wow I''m suprised the Bush administration is still letting him in as an "insider" if he writes all these books. Oh that''s right, he isn''t an insider in the Republican party. He is an INSIDER IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THAT YOU PIECE OF KRAP.

Like McCaim says, Democrats want to reform everything but their own party.

[bamabratt-2009]

What they fail to mention is that of course the President isn''t going to say we''re losing!! Duh! That would embolden the enemy and reduce morale! Unlike the traitors in the democrat party like Harry "the war is lost" Reid, Benedict Murtha, and the others.

[liberalme]

I listened to Woodward and Pelli for a few minutes and it literally made me ill. Who do you think you are helping or educating by running this story? You really frighten me, as a mother of a Marine, this reporter, author and producers are not Americans in my eyes. I''''ll write my feelings to your sponsors too. God, you should be so ashamed, all.

Posted by ggforo at 07:24 PM : Sep 07, 2008

Being the grandmother of a young man in Special Ops and on stand-by to go "somewhere" and has been to Iraq--it is appaling to me the great lengths Bush has taken throughtout this whole "invasion" to keep the killing field active.
The man has a penchant for death--as long as it isn''t his own.
What Bush has done to our country, Iraq and how the rest of the world thinks about America is criminal, and no one as yet, has been able to tell me what "We will/have won".
It can''t be the "war on terror" as terrorists are in every country--even still here.
Do we have a chance of being attacked again? Absolutely! Our boarders are wide open.
Now Bush is challenging Putin (agitating Iran has somehow subsided)and Putin is responding.

Just waiting for Bushs famous "bring it on" challenge.

This poor excuse of a meader or even human belongs in a straight jacket in a padded cell with no contact to the outside world--he is the epitomy of evil.

[allthetime24]

Woodward, Thomas Jefferson shot a man on the White House lawn for treason. W should put a bullet through your traitorous skull. Throw liberal Scott Pelly in there as well for good liberal measure. As for as spying on our "friends" like Maliki, of course we are. It''s basic on 101 tactics in the "Art of War". Try reading it some time. Jackass

[vet_sk]

bamabratt,
What do you know. Have you been there. This Dem has and I am voting for Obama. The man opposed this war from the beginning and relied on the generals to make an informed decision as to whether or not vote for the surge. Most of the generals said no in private.

That you want to call dems some type of monster is outrageous but the status quo for the war party of the repubs.

[ewcm-ret]

Bob Woodward is a traitor! He should be immediately arrested by the FBI for treasonous acts and violation of the National Security Act. What a bunch of C##P he is spewing from his legendary journalistic mouth. This is so bad CBS, BAD!!! Why do you air this kinda stuff? I am ashamed of this network and all who work for it. Obiviously nothing I say will matter, but remember word of mouth is powerful also. What gives Bob the right to violate security and for that matter who gave him the info? Woodward I am sure is not cleared for it!
Once again you show your bias and unfair reporting. Nice timing by the way, just before the election so McCain and republicans are hurt by this blasphemy!

[vet_sk]

Is anyone else tired of listening to these punks like allthetime24 - who actually believe that the poor (give me a break) United States can do no wrong and no harm and that we should just let our government go on in secret in this perpertual war we are in.
Grow up and do your job as a citizen in this democracy and question your government - especially one as corrupt as Bush''s.

[fstop100]

voting for barry obama will give us another inexperienced president. I am voting for an American president, not African-American, what does he think, he is better than us?

[neo267-2009]

Woodward is just a has-been 60s retread desperately trying anything to stay in the limelight.

The surge was a desperate measure - but what it showed the terrorists was that George Bush was still in control, and they realized they couldn''t hold out until a Democratic administration could surrender to them.

[rosaire-2009]

I don''t think Woodward would say anything he''s not been cleared to say. Most likely, knowledge of SOME specifics about that program does not lead to any comfort! He said you would "get your *** out of twon," probably terrorized by the knowledge of what can happen to you.

What Woodward did here is called "propaganda." Atilla the Hun was a master at that. So his enemies would disband and clear the battlefield rather than risk being captured by his men...

[liberalme]

voting for barry obama will give us another inexperienced president. I am voting for an American president, not African-American, what does he think, he is better than us?

Posted by fstop100 at 07:53 PM : Sep 07, 2008

HAhahaha would you vote for him if he was a "whitey"?

[tonic1111]

I AM A REPUBLICAN AND I AM TIRED OF PROMISES.

ABORTION:. . . .
ALL THOSE MILLIONS OF DEAD BABIES.....

DID GEORGE BUSH OR THE REPUBLICANS DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT WHEN THEY HAD CONTROL OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE ? NO.

WHY ?
THE REPUBLICANS NEED ABORTION AS AN ISSUE TO DIVIDE US.

DID REAGAN ?
NO.

DID NIXON ?
NO.

DID FORD ?
NO.

OBAMA WILL ALLOW CIVIL AGREEMENTS CONCERNING GAY PEOPLE.
NOT MARRIAGE. THAT''S FINE WITH ME.

OBAMA IS FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT .
KEEP YOUR GUNS, JUST NO AK-47''''S.

OBAMA WILL GIVE TAX BREAKS TO EVERYONE EARNING UNDER 150,000 AND WILL TAX THE WEALTHY.

I DO NOT CARE IF OBAMA IS PURPLE.

I WANT A TRUE CHANGE AND MY TAX BREAK.

[vet_sk]

Republicans would love it if every vehicle in the United States were plastered with flags and machine guns and looked like Somalia.

I''d rather have a real country where we are free to questions our government. Bush loves war because he claim like so many of the republican punks listing their junk here that we should not question our government in time of war. They also believe that Malikie does not know he is being spied upon by the US. Please.

[republic1776]

This guy should be hung for treason.
How many lives will he cost?
He''s a snake.