Woodward book blows away W war myths

On Sunday night, Bob Woodward appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss his new book, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, which contains some pretty stark revelations about President Bush and his handling of the War in Iraq, specifically the GOP ballyhooed Troop Surge. He sat down with CBS' Scott Pelley for a very interesting interview:

"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."

Not that I totally agree with the philosophy, but so much for the Republicans "listening to the generals on the ground," an MO that Bush and McCain have attempted to smear Obama for not advocating.

BONUS:
Here's an interesting excerpt from The War Within regarding Bush's psyche regarding Iran (and his intellectual capacity, for that matter). On page 334:

That spring, [2007] Admiral Fallon attended a White House meeting on Iran.

"I think we need to do something to get engaged with these guys," Fallon said. Iraq shared a 900-mile border with Iran, and he needed guidance and a strategy for dealing with the Iranians.

"Well," Bush said, "these are assholes."

Fallon was stunned. Declaring them "assholes" was not a strategy. Lots of words and ideas were thrown around at the meeting, especially about the Iranian leaders. They were bad, evil, out of touch with their people. But no one offered a real approach. No one wanted to touch diplomatic engagement.

What a shocker - the Bush administration not wanting to engage in diplomacy?!? It's pretty clear that Bush (and McCain, if he gets into office) would rather bomb the Iranians than talk to them to find out what they really hope to accomplish. Bush, Rove, McCain and co. have been pushing the meme that "talking" to our enemies is a weakness. Someone needs to school these rubes on history, especially their anointed saint, Ronald Reagan, who used diplomacy to help win the Cold War.

And "assholes," Mr. President? How... presidential, President Frat Boy.

I wonder if Dick Cheney will curse out Bob Woodward again for his latest book, just as he did following Woodward's release of last explosive book, State of Denial, which was very unflattering to the Bush Presidency. (See below)