First he liked him. Then he liked him again. Then he didn’t like him. Now Bob Woodward’s fourth book on the Bush Presidency presents a mixed bag – saying Bush was slow to react to bad military strategy in Iraq and approved spying on Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But the president also pushed hard for the Surge over the objections of some in his administration and lobbied al-Maliki to rein in sectarian violence. If only he could quell violence here, Bush laments. “This war has created a lot of really harsh emotion, out of which comes a lot of harsh rhetoric. One of my failures has been to change the tone in Washington.”

The War Within

A Secret White House History 2006-2008

by Bob Woodward

Simon & Schuster