''Obama's Wars'' is a 2010 book written by Pulitzer Prize–winning

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for '' The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingt ...

. The book was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

and released on September 27, 2010. It focuses on the internal debates and divisions within the Obama administration regarding the handling of the United States' involvement in the ongoing

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

wars. Woodward was interviewed by

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

anchor

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and ''Primetime'' newsmagaz ...

to promote the book as well as

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

journalist Charlie Rose.

White House response

In comments made to the press on September 22, 2010, White House Press Secretary

Robert Gibbs Robert Lane Gibbs (born March 29, 1971) is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 20 ...

responded to the book by stating, "I will say I think that the book portrays a thoughtful, vigorous policy process that led us to a strategy that gives us the best chance at achieving our objectives and goals in Afghanistan." He also commented, "I hope people will read the whole book and see that we had a policy that -- and a situation in Afghanistan that had been neglected for seven years, that was badly under-resourced and desperately in need of new ideas and a new strategy. And the President shepherded through a process, again, that was thoughtful and deliberate and focused to come up with what was our best chance at success."Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs aboard Air Force One en route New York, New York , The White House
/ref>

Recommendation by Osama bin Laden

In a

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

of Osama Bin Laden titled "Message to the American People," he recommends reading this book to gain insight into the mishandling of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. Carlos Lozada, also of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', called upon Woodward for his reaction to learning that ''Obama's Wars'' was one of the books Navy SEALs retrieved from Osama bin Laden's final Abbottabad hideout, after they killed him in 2011. Lozada quoted Woodward's comment that, if bin Laden had read his book more carefully, he would have returned to his mountain cave.

References

{{Bob Woodward 2010 non-fiction books Books by Bob Woodward Books about the Obama administration Iraq War books War on Terror books