timvwcom
09-05-2008, 01:28 AM
#4 in his series will be out Monday, but some things are leaking now;
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Everything_fcking_spin_said_McCain_of_0904.html
'Everything is f*cking spin,' McCain said of WH
Bob Woodward, the journalist partly responsible for bringing about President Nixon's resignation during the Watergate scandal, will see his new book on the Bush Administration published Monday. And while the volume is a lengthy study of the administration's failures, even Sen. John McCain, now the GOP nominee to the presidency, does not escape the light of his pen.
"Everything is f*cking spin," says McCain in the new book, "The War Within," of the Bush Administration.
Fox News, which secured a copy of Woodward's book ahead of its release, brought the details to light in a Thursday report. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417064,00.html) Coming on the eve of McCain's acceptance speech to the GOP, the report appears as little more than spin itself. Fox reported the quote without context.
And spin or none, it will be difficult for the administration to step back from some of Woodward's other revelations.
"Groundbreaking" new covert techniques, and not the troop "surge," was behind the drop in violence in Iraq, he writes. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, along with his staff, were these techniques' guinea pigs, and were wrapped tightly in a web of next-generation spying.
Employing these unspecified techniques against Maliki and aides allowed US forces to "hear every word he says," states a Thursday night report from the Washington Post. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403160.html?hpid=topnews)
"Overall, Woodward writes, four factors combined to reduce the violence: the covert operations; the influx of troops; the agreement by militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his powerful Mahdi Army; and the so-called Anbar Awakening, in which tens of thousands of Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied with U.S. forces," reports the Post.
"The War Within" is Woodward's fourth book on the Bush Administration, but only the second to veer into criticism of the president.
"The book portrays an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq during the summer and early fall of 2006," says the Post. "Publicly, Bush maintained that U.S. forces were 'winning'; privately, he came to believe that the military's long-term strategy of training Iraq security forces and handing over responsibility to the new Iraqi government was failing. Eventually, Woodward writes, the president lost confidence in the two military commanders overseeing the war: Gen. George W. Casey Jr., then commander of coalition forces in Iraq, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, then head of U.S. Central Command."
"Calling Bush 'the nation’s most divisive figure,' Woodward criticized the president for failing to fulfill what some might view as impossible expectations.
"'He had not rooted out terror wherever it existed,' Woodward scolded," said Fox. "'He had not achieved world peace. He had not attained victory in his two wars.'"
...
Yeah, you are ignoring this thread now... but I "see" the media swell a coming. Instead of "bumping" it, I'll be content to edit the news of the day... for now.
Edit: 9/5/2008 @ 11:51 PM...
White House Disputes Bob Woodward's New Book (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/05/white-house-disputes-bob_n_124410.html)
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House on Friday disputed an assertion in a new book by Bob Woodward that President Bush was slow to react to escalating attacks in Iraq, forcefully arguing that Bush's military buildup was responsible for a sharp drop in the violence.
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 3:39 AM...
Bloomberg critic: Woodward's lips attached to Bush's backside in new book (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Woodward_tells_CBS_Military_brass_opposed_0908.htm l)
Woodward writes of 'Doubt, Distrust, Delay' in lead-up to the surge
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 12:29 PM...
Secret killing program is key in Iraq, Woodward says (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/09/iraq.secret/index.html#cnnSTCText)
The dramatic drop in violence in Iraq is due in large part to a secret program the U.S. military has used to kill terrorists, according to a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward.
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 10:21 PM...
Woodward: Bin Laden capture could be ‘the September or the October surprise.’ (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/09/woodward-october-surprise/)
In his new book “The War Within,” Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disclosed “the existence of secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent leaders.” Asked by a caller on Larry King Live last night if the capabilities could be used “to catch bin Laden,” Woodward replied that “maybe they can use it on bin Laden.” He then mused that it’s possible that “the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden.”
Edit: 9/13/2008 @ 2:35 AM...
What Is Woodward's 'Secret Weapon' in Iraq? (http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/whats-the-milit.html)
Everyone's buzzing about the "sophisticated and lethal special operations program" that Bob Woodward alluded to in his recent 60 Minutes interview. An important question is: what in the heck was Woodward talking about? Secret death rays? The Voice of God weapon? It's enough to make me break from my current coffee shop lounging existence to chime in with some thoughts on the subject... I'm going to make a wager about what I think Woodward is talking about, and I'll be curious to see what Danger Room readers have to say. I believe he is talking about the much ballyhooed (in defense geek circles) "Tagging, Tracking and Locating" program; here's a briefing on it from Special Operations Command. These are newfangled technologies designed to track people from long distances, without the targeted people realizing they are being tracked. That can theoretically include thermal signatures, or some sort of "taggant" placed on a person. Think Will Smith in Enemy of the State. Well, not so many cameras, maybe.
Edit: 9/15/2008 @ 2:25 AM... Krikey!!! I've run out of 10,000 characters for my "under the radar updates on this"
I'll start a new post and hope to God everyone (who cares about any current event) ignores it since this is clearly "nothing"... Please move along, nothing to see here...
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Everything_fcking_spin_said_McCain_of_0904.html
'Everything is f*cking spin,' McCain said of WH
Bob Woodward, the journalist partly responsible for bringing about President Nixon's resignation during the Watergate scandal, will see his new book on the Bush Administration published Monday. And while the volume is a lengthy study of the administration's failures, even Sen. John McCain, now the GOP nominee to the presidency, does not escape the light of his pen.
"Everything is f*cking spin," says McCain in the new book, "The War Within," of the Bush Administration.
Fox News, which secured a copy of Woodward's book ahead of its release, brought the details to light in a Thursday report. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417064,00.html) Coming on the eve of McCain's acceptance speech to the GOP, the report appears as little more than spin itself. Fox reported the quote without context.
And spin or none, it will be difficult for the administration to step back from some of Woodward's other revelations.
"Groundbreaking" new covert techniques, and not the troop "surge," was behind the drop in violence in Iraq, he writes. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, along with his staff, were these techniques' guinea pigs, and were wrapped tightly in a web of next-generation spying.
Employing these unspecified techniques against Maliki and aides allowed US forces to "hear every word he says," states a Thursday night report from the Washington Post. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403160.html?hpid=topnews)
"Overall, Woodward writes, four factors combined to reduce the violence: the covert operations; the influx of troops; the agreement by militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his powerful Mahdi Army; and the so-called Anbar Awakening, in which tens of thousands of Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied with U.S. forces," reports the Post.
"The War Within" is Woodward's fourth book on the Bush Administration, but only the second to veer into criticism of the president.
"The book portrays an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq during the summer and early fall of 2006," says the Post. "Publicly, Bush maintained that U.S. forces were 'winning'; privately, he came to believe that the military's long-term strategy of training Iraq security forces and handing over responsibility to the new Iraqi government was failing. Eventually, Woodward writes, the president lost confidence in the two military commanders overseeing the war: Gen. George W. Casey Jr., then commander of coalition forces in Iraq, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, then head of U.S. Central Command."
"Calling Bush 'the nation’s most divisive figure,' Woodward criticized the president for failing to fulfill what some might view as impossible expectations.
"'He had not rooted out terror wherever it existed,' Woodward scolded," said Fox. "'He had not achieved world peace. He had not attained victory in his two wars.'"
...
Yeah, you are ignoring this thread now... but I "see" the media swell a coming. Instead of "bumping" it, I'll be content to edit the news of the day... for now.
Edit: 9/5/2008 @ 11:51 PM...
White House Disputes Bob Woodward's New Book (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/05/white-house-disputes-bob_n_124410.html)
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House on Friday disputed an assertion in a new book by Bob Woodward that President Bush was slow to react to escalating attacks in Iraq, forcefully arguing that Bush's military buildup was responsible for a sharp drop in the violence.
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 3:39 AM...
Bloomberg critic: Woodward's lips attached to Bush's backside in new book (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Woodward_tells_CBS_Military_brass_opposed_0908.htm l)
Woodward writes of 'Doubt, Distrust, Delay' in lead-up to the surge
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 12:29 PM...
Secret killing program is key in Iraq, Woodward says (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/09/iraq.secret/index.html#cnnSTCText)
The dramatic drop in violence in Iraq is due in large part to a secret program the U.S. military has used to kill terrorists, according to a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward.
Edit: 9/9/2008 @ 10:21 PM...
Woodward: Bin Laden capture could be ‘the September or the October surprise.’ (http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/09/woodward-october-surprise/)
In his new book “The War Within,” Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disclosed “the existence of secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent leaders.” Asked by a caller on Larry King Live last night if the capabilities could be used “to catch bin Laden,” Woodward replied that “maybe they can use it on bin Laden.” He then mused that it’s possible that “the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden.”
Edit: 9/13/2008 @ 2:35 AM...
What Is Woodward's 'Secret Weapon' in Iraq? (http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/whats-the-milit.html)
Everyone's buzzing about the "sophisticated and lethal special operations program" that Bob Woodward alluded to in his recent 60 Minutes interview. An important question is: what in the heck was Woodward talking about? Secret death rays? The Voice of God weapon? It's enough to make me break from my current coffee shop lounging existence to chime in with some thoughts on the subject... I'm going to make a wager about what I think Woodward is talking about, and I'll be curious to see what Danger Room readers have to say. I believe he is talking about the much ballyhooed (in defense geek circles) "Tagging, Tracking and Locating" program; here's a briefing on it from Special Operations Command. These are newfangled technologies designed to track people from long distances, without the targeted people realizing they are being tracked. That can theoretically include thermal signatures, or some sort of "taggant" placed on a person. Think Will Smith in Enemy of the State. Well, not so many cameras, maybe.
Edit: 9/15/2008 @ 2:25 AM... Krikey!!! I've run out of 10,000 characters for my "under the radar updates on this"
I'll start a new post and hope to God everyone (who cares about any current event) ignores it since this is clearly "nothing"... Please move along, nothing to see here...