Bob Woodward's latest

It is frustrating that more American voters did not pay attention to many points made by Woodward.  Short term thinkers felt Biden was responsible for inflation, more so than the man who botched the pandemic.  They ignored the real dangers of climate change.  A number of responsible military and political people warned Trump was recklessly irresponsible.  His authoritative manner might seem commendable, but too often was harmful, often very harmful.

Bob Woodward is unique.  He is in a position that allows different powerful people to be honest, or at least it appears to be so.    Woodward's secret is that all his interviews (most of which are recorded) are done under the cover of "deep background" which meant the given  information could be used, but would not be attributed to anyone.  He did not get permission to talk to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump, but did have a lot of confidential interviews with key players. 

Joe Biden jumped to the defense of Ukraine, but also made it known there would be no American military combatants.  After October 7th he was quite adamant that he would support Israel, but no Americans would be fighting.  He also criticized Israeli settlements in Palestine and stated he felt there needed to be a two state solution.

You will learn about Netanyahu and Zelensky.  And Hunter Biden.  And Jake Sullivan.  And many others that have some responsibility for the way the world is headed.

All Arab leaders felt Hamas needed to be destroyed.  It also appears that Netanyahu supposed by even more extreme believers felt that not only Hamas needed to be destroyed, but that Palestine needed to be tramped down.  In the Mideast two driving forces are Hate and Fear.  I would add Face as the politicians feel locked in.  Woodward captures some of the hypocrisy that most politicians use to gain or maintain power.

He did note Biden's aging and that staff was trying to hide it.  It is unfortunate that not enough comments were made in public about Trump's deteriorating capability, but Woodward does note a few instances of it. 

The narrative goes up to the replacement of Biden with Kamala Harris.  She receives scant mention beforehand and there had to a cut off, but the debate she clearly won was not included.  Although I wish she had received more coverage,  I also regret more voters didn't get a chance to read it or at least hear discussions

It may seem that reading "War" is a waste of time after the election, but I disagree.  Woodward has given a lot of insights into people who are still making decisions that effect us all.  Perhaps more important he has also given us insights into how power works. 

An earlier blog post on a Bob Woodward book  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/11/fear-another-anti-trump-book.html