BOB WOODWARD'S 'WAR' IS A MUST READ IN U.S. HISTORY

[ancianita]

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2024, 09:57 AM - Edit history (5)

Bob Woodward's War is worth every nickel!

While Woodward speaks about Israel in a lot of this segment, over half his book, War, is about our intelligence meetings and our leadership on the runup to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and our weapons and allied help in prosecuting the war since Putin's attack -- and the direness of using tactical nuclear weaponry (and what US and Russian arsenals have) -- and Putin's use of 40-50% dud cluster bombs that necessitated our giving cluster bombs (with .01% dud levels, which means they don't go off until found by civilians later) to Ukraine to substitute for our dwindling supply of 155 howitzer ammo, which had been provided to Ukraine by us and many, many countries, and was the key to Zelenskyy holding the Ukraine military's ground gains.

The whole Big MSM headline about Trump sending Putin covid test kits only gets a short paragraph in Woodward's book. And appropriately so, since the whole book is an education on WAR.

I thought Lawrence was just pitching one of his favorite well known writers, but I misjudged him.

Woodward's War is an education about
-- President Biden's key and powerful war advisers who've worked together for 20 years -- Anthony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Intelligence chiefs Avril Haines and Bill Burns; security advisors Jon Finer; Dept of Defense team Gen Lloyd Austin, his undersecretary & right hand man, Colin Kahl, Head of Joint Chiefs, Gen Mark Milley.
-- the sheer breadth and depth of our military and civilian intelligence penetration capability worldwide;
-- that Haines and Burns had gotten the high level NSA detailed intel about Putin's "plan" and then declassified it for the Washington Post to reveal to Americans on Dec 3, 2021;
-- when Head of the Joint Chiefs, Gen Mark Milley, met with AG Merrick Garland
-- our weapons systems (even what's used over the White House and Pentagon!),
-- Harris's hard talk with a doubtful Zelensky on Feb 19, 2022, prior to Russia's attack 5 days later (pp 115-117);
-- Putin's multiple personalities and his war playbook;
-- Russia's weak military, and details of Ukraine's first 3 wins on the first day of Russia's multiple-front attack;
-- our vastly stronger military and civilian intelligence coordination systems with our Quad partners, UK, France, Germany, Italy.

And I'm only on the 42nd Chapter of the 77 chapter book! HIGHLY recommended.
Woodward's book, War, establishes President Biden's prominence in U.S. History and world history, and so itself will withstand the test of time.

Now I want Harris to -- and once you read this book you can be sure she will -- keep all of Biden's National Security team in place when she becomes president. They are legendary.

[ancianita]

1. More on Biden's National Security Council.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/

Vice President Kamala Harris
Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken
Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen
Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin
Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm
Attorney General, Merrick Garland
Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas
Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power
Chief of Staff to the President, Jeff Zients
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the military advisor to the Council -- Gen. Mark Milley
Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor -- DNI Dir. Avril Haines, and CIA Dir. Bill Burns

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Woodward is on The Beat

[ancianita]

3. Very cool. And Ari asked great questions. In answering, Woodward repreated some broad ideas from his book.

He spoke of Putin as the single biggest danger to the world's international order, and given what his book shows of what "Putinologists" know, the world is now better equipped to know Putin, and the several levels of warning that Austin has leveled at Putin, because he knows when Putin is even thinking of mobilizing his tactical nuclear arsenal.

Woodward says that Biden considers Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin THE most valuable member of Biden's cabinet, because he is badass in dealing with the other military heads of the world.

When he talked directly to Putin's Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, old childhood friend of Putin's:

Austin delivered his final point. "All these actors in the world that you think are your friends or who are looking aside, would all turn against Russia in this scenario -- the Chinese, the Indians, the Turks, the Israelis," he said. This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate."

"I don't take kindly to being threatened," Shoigu finally responded.

"Mr. Minister," Austein said bluntly with not a hint of anger, "I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don't make threats."

And then there's the next fascinating scene with Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley (who's one of our greatest commanders) calling from the Pentagon on a secure phone call with Putin's General Valery Gerasimov, in which he demands Gerasimov tell him Russia's exact nuclear doctrine. When Gen Gerasimov recites the doctrine's three big conditions, Milley says, "Well that's good... because none of those conditions are going to obtain so I guess you're not going to use nuclear weapons because...." and forced Gerasimov to agree there were no existing reasons under Russian doctrine to use nukes on Ukraine.

These interviews are good, but are nothing compared to Woodward's War presentation of the brilliant national military and intelligence personnel and their actions under Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden -- not to mention President Biden! -- these last four years.