In mid-October, the book by respected American journalist Bob Woodward entitled “War.” The book is dedicated to the actions of President Joe Biden’s administration regarding the war in Ukraine. The item has not yet been translated into Polish, but the interesting topics found in it have been summarized on Platform X by Wojciech Konończuk, director of the Center for Oriental Studies.
As the director of OSW emphasizes, the book contains “no revolutionary knowledge,” but does provide “many unknown details” about the war. The book also contains an important Polish thread.
Woodward writes that Biden had a negative assessment of previous US policy towards Russia. We also learn from the book, which was partly reported in the media, that in Kiev, as well as in some capitals of Western Europe, they did not believe that Russia could attack Russia.
1) We get some very interesting behind-the-scenes information about how the US warned Europe and Ukraine that Russian aggression was approaching. A great success for American intelligence.
2) Biden was critical of previous US policy toward Russia, including the Obama administration (he was part of it): “We screwed up.”
3) President Zelensky, despite continued US warnings, did not fully believe that Russia would launch a full-scale attack. The West was also suspicious. Europe (Macron: “Putin has given me his word that he will not invade”). As a consolation: Lavrov also did not know that there would be a war.
4) The Germans were so confident that Russia would not attack that the head of the BND, Bruno Kahl, found Russian aggression in Kiev. He had to be evacuated by a special unit. Woodward writes that Poles like to joke about this whole story.
There is also a story in the media that Americans encouraged Zelensky to escape and set up a government in exile.
5) Since February 24, 2022, the Americans have been convincing Zelensky to leave Kiev and Ukraine as quickly as possible, otherwise he will be dead. They proposed to him the establishment of a Ukrainian government-in-exile in Poland.
6) After a few weeks of war, the Americans admitted that they perfectly predicted what and when Putin would start; they overestimate Russia’s combat potential; they underestimate the Ukrainians; they underestimate the Europeans.
7) President Biden had no illusions about Putin’s goals. He was convinced that it was not just about Ukraine, but about Europe and that the war had global consequences.
8) Despite the war, US-Russian communications are maintained continuously, including direct meetings between the heads of intelligence (Burns-Naryshkin) and the general staffs (Milley-Gerasimov).
About Duda’s meeting with Trump
In the following message, the director of OSW quotes an excerpt from the book in which the author writes about the meeting between Polish President Andrzej Duda and Donald Trump. According to Woodward, Duda had a major influence on Republicans who ultimately supported the new Ukraine aid package in Congress.
9) One of the chapters is about Poland. Woodward talks, among other things: with President Duda. Lots of praiseworthy words for Poland: realism towards Russia, support for Ukraine, 4+% of GDP for defense.
10) Woodward believes Duda’s 2.5-hour meeting with Trump on April 17, 2024 in New York was important in convincing Republicans to support a new $61 billion aid package for Ukraine in Congress.
11) Much of the book focuses on the Israel-Gaza conflict and the White House’s frustrations with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who calls Biden a “damn liar” and a “bad guy.”
12) Woodward rightly praises Biden’s commitment to helping Ukraine. What is missing, however, is the reflection that US aid, while crucial, was inadequate, and that various constraints and concerns in DC meant that Kiev still received too little to win the war. The book is leaking. END
kk/X
Source: wPolityce