Book: Obama aides divided over Afghanistan strategy

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's early attempts to seize control of a neglected Afghanistan war yielded a strategy that pleased almost no one and hasn't turned the tide of a conflict near its 10th year.

Just how contentious that plan has been, inside the Obama White House as well as outside, is captured in Bob Woodward's new book.

The account exposes the roots of an Afghanistan exit plan driven more by politics than national security and shows the president worried about losing the support of the public and his party.

"I have two years with the public on this," Obama is quoted as saying at one point, referring to what the administration still considers a finite well of public patience.

Such private fears have been aired publicly. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the United States and its NATO partners must show clear progress by the end of this year or risk a collapse of public support.

The book, "Obama's Wars," reveals that Obama's aides were deeply divided over the war even as the president agreed to nearly triple troop levels in a gamble reminiscent of former President George W. Bush's Iraq war "surge." "I want an exit strategy," Obama said at one meeting, as he and White House aides groused that the Pentagon brass was boxing him in.

He got one, at least on paper. Obama has said he will begin withdrawing forces in July 2011, an arbitrary date that many in the military see as artificial and perhaps premature.

Privately, Obama told Vice President Joe Biden to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings, according to the book.

While Obama ultimately rejected the alternative plan, the book says, he set a withdrawal timetable because, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party." Obama's top White House adviser on Afghanistan and his special envoy for the region are described as believing the surge and withdrawal strategy will not work.

Details from the book were reported by The New York Times, which obtained a copy before its release Monday. The Washington Post also reported extensively on the book by its longtime reporter and editor. It shot to No. 2 on the Amazon best-seller list Wednesday. Obama was among administration officials Woodward interviewed for the book.