>What is 'all this?' I think you might want to become better informed. The War Within is about 2006-2008 the conception and execution of the surge and what else was happening while the surge was implemented that had a huge effect of the plummet of violence there :o)
>

Reading Woodward - any of his stuff - it is very interesting when he gets to intelligence issues and becomes very circumspect (a lot of his access, I think, depends on his discretion about really important stuff and his ability to tell the difference.)

When thinking about Woodward/Watergate etc. remember - he was ONI (and it don't get no spookier than that) and used to brief people like Haig. And then think about Ben Bradlee and the Grahams and their salon in Georgetown and people like the Alsops and Cord Meyer and Desmond Fitzgerald, and Bissell and Shackley ...

I'd like to read the stories Woodward could really write and know *all* the things Bill Casey told him ...


>
>>I think you may be embarrassed by the CIA's role in all this. You should be.
>>
>>In fairness, the indictments of the CIA in books like "The Dark Side" and others have mostly been of the higher ups.
>>
>>>I am just finishing Woodward's The War Within. If you haven't read it yet I recommend it. Fascinating stuff - and portrayals of Col H R Macmaster, Gen Keane and Gen Petreaus remind you that some really exceptional people do choose the military as a career.
>>>
>>>Oh and even if you don't have time to read it now, if you pass it in a bookstore just read page 380 about JSOC (Joint Military Assistance Command) - a blandly named incarnation of SOG "responsible for hunting Al Qaeda in Iraq ... using every tool available"
>>>
>>>"Derek Harvey, the DIA intelligence expert and adviser to Petraeus, said privately that the operations were so effective they gave him 'orgasms'.
>>>
>>>Bush: "JSOC is awesome."
>>>
>>>Ten years from now we may know - or the 25 rule may still be in effect - but thanks again to the watchers on the wall.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>ROFL :o)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>One of the strongest features of The Vision of the Annointed is not having to revise any portion of the Vision, its assumptions or its world-view based on outcome.
>>>>>
>>>>>Those who Know Better will always Know Better because all the others who Know Better will always agree with them.
>>>>>
>>>>>Anyone who does not share that Vision is - by definition - stupid.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>And now the rest of the world. Or are you still convinced the surge didn't work?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>What's even worse is that after saying it over and over a zillion times I think these two bozos actually belive it themselves.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>After repeating over and over and over that everything is perfect in Irak they probably hope to increase those believing them.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Cheney says the surge in Iraq (Pronounced 'i-wreck') is working.