Obama believes 'cancer of terrorism' is in Pak: Book

The soon-to-be-released book entitled 'Obama's War', written by noted journalist Bob Woodward, says that the then Director of National Intelligence had told Obama soon after his victory in the November 2008 presidential elections that Pakistan was a "dishonest" and "unwilling partner" in the war on terrorism.

The book, which claims that the Obama administration is sharply divided on the Afghan policy, is set to be released on Monday. Two days after he was elected as President, Obama was told by Mike McConnell, the then Director of National Intelligence, that Pakistan was not trustworthy.

At McConnell's top-secret briefing for Obama, the intelligence chief told the President-elect that Pakistan was a dishonest partner, unwilling or unable to stop elements of its intelligence service from giving clandestine aid, weapons and money to the Afghan Taliban, Woodward wrote in the book, according to 'The Washington Post'.

By the end of the 2009 strategy review, Obama concluded that no mission in Afghanistan could be successful without attacking the al-Qaeda and Afghan-Taliban havens operating with impunity in Pakistan's remote tribal region, the daily said citing the book. "We need to make clear to people that the cancer is in Pakistan," Obama is quoted as saying at an Oval Office meeting on November 25, 2009.

Creating a more secure Afghanistan is imperative, the President said, "so the cancer doesn't spread" there, the paper reported quoting from the book. "The war in Iraq draws no attention in the book, except as a reference point for considering and developing a new Afghanistan strategy. "The book's title, 'Obama's Wars,' appears to refer to the conflict in Afghanistan and the conflicts among the President's national security team," it said.

The book discloses that the CIA created, controlled and paid for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counter-terrorism Pursuit Teams. "Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qaeda and Afghan-Taliban havens there," the paper said.