POLITICS
WAR
Bob Woodward
Simon & Schuster, $55

Over a reporter’s lifetime of 20 books, Bob Woodward is a grandmaster of American journalism because he always, as Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, takes us into the room where it happens. From the Oval Office in All the President’s Men and the Final Days, which chronicle the constitutional scandal that felled president Richard Nixon, to his latest, WAR, what Woodward reports through his meticulous craft is often verbatim between just two people in the room. It is stunning.

Woodward has focused most especially on presidents at war in Bush at War and Plan of Attack and Obama’s Wars, and how they dealt with the catastrophic attacks and aftershocks of 9/11. What is different about WAR is that this is not about a president prosecuting a war but a president – Joe Biden – who is determined, after immersion in five decades of American military tragedy and triumph – to keep two raging conflagrations, Ukraine and Israel, from spiralling out of control. Woodward reaches a judgment about Biden and how he has acted under extreme pressures to avoid nuclear war between Russia and NATO in Europe and prevent regional war between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.

WAR was published a month before the US election. Headlines were made. His October Surprise was that General Mark Milley, the highly respected chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s presidency, stated on the record that Trump is a fascist. John Kelly, Trump’s longest serving chief of staff in the first term, agreed. Vice President Kamala Harris publicly concurred, and the 2024 election campaign was in part a referendum on Trump – that Trump, as we all know, won.

On Ukraine, Woodward takes us through the astonishing intelligence that showed Russia about to invade Ukraine with dominant military force. President Volodymyr Zelensky did not believe it – until the last moment. Russia’s military threat could not be countered immediately with countervailing force – that would come through NATO – but by splashing the top-secret intelligence on Russia’s plans all over the media, removing Vladimir Putin’s element of surprise.

Woodward takes us to the edge of our seats as Putin plays with triggers on his tactical nuclear weapons. There is a clinically terrifying call between Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defence, and Sergei Shoigu, his equivalent in Putin’s regime. “I don’t take kindly to being threatened,” Shoigu responded after Austin let him know what would befall Russia if their nuclear weapons were used. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world,” Austin said. “I don’t make threats.”

There are equally shocking passages on the wars that involve Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Iran and its agents. Yes, Biden has a lifetime of commitment to the Jewish State. Yes, Biden will not hamper Israel’s ability to defend itself. But underneath, just a few days into Israel’s response to the horrors of October 7, are bitter and profound differences between Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu.