The famous D.C. journalist backed up claims first made by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Woodward asserted, "...It's very clear that the new administration is taking a very aggressive stance on these matters and are, perhaps, even more than the Bush administration, doing more about the al Qaeda sanctuaries in places like Yemen."
Stephanopoulos chimed in: "In fact, they had 53 drone strikes over the last year, more than the entire Bush administration." The GMA host and Woodward were discussing the attempted Christmas day airline bombing in Detroit. Responding to Dick Cheney’s assertion that the President want to "pretend we aren’t at war," Stephanopoulos queried Woodward: "The President has been pushing back very hard against that notion. Bottom line, who's got the better argument here?"
On the actual issue of the failed plane bombing, Stephanopoulos was more skeptical: "But how do you explain then what happened here with the failed Christmas bombing?...What happened here? How was this missed?"
In an earlier segment, correspondent Jake Tapper covered the topic and repeated, "And, Robin, the White House is pushing back on the notion that President Obama is not aggressively enough fighting the war on al Qaeda, arguing that this White House has spent more attention and resources devoted to fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen than the previous one."
Of course, Tapper also made sure to highlight Cheney’s actual words:
TAPPER: The political attacks are coming too, Former Vice President Cheney, in comments to Politico said the President’s initial low-key response is because, quote, "President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reading them their Miranda rights, we won't be at war."
A transcript of the January 4 segment, which aired at 7:06am EST, follows:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And now for the bottom line on all of this, we turn to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. He has been writing about America’s presence and America’s intelligence community for nearly four decades. Good morning, Bob.
BOB WOODWARD: Good morning.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And let’s begin with the situation in Yemen. We saw in Martha's piece there, U.S. special forces in Yemen right now, they've been providing assistance to the Yemen government. But, also yesterday, John Brennan the President’s counter-terrorism advisor pointedly did not rule out U.S. military action. Is that what Americans should expect?
WOODWARD: No. Probably not. It's confusing, I think, to the average person. We've got these ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and al Qaeda. But the al Qaeda sanctuaries are in Pakistan and in places like Yemen. We do not have ground wars going on. But as Martha pointed out, we're getting assistance and we're giving assistance in Yemen where the President there has taken a very aggressive stand in going after al Qaeda. The key to this are ground operations by forces from other countries, quite frankly.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, helped by, though, as we said, U.S. special forces. Also, one report in December those two strikes in Yemen, during December, one may have included U.S. missiles as well. But what's happened here, is this is almost a direct result of the pushing harder, the U.S. pushing harder in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Al Qaeda moves to Yemen?
WOODWARD: Yes, I think that's exactly right and Somalia, which is another place of worry. In fact, there are dozens of places of worry where there are al Qaeda cells around the world. And since 9/11, the CIA and others have been fighting them covertly.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's get to the political debate here at home. You've seen former Vice President Cheney come out and say that one of the- one of the reasons we're seeing more attempts and that the failed bombing in December, is that the Obama administration has dropped the ball. The President has been pushing back very hard against that notion. Bottom line, who's got the better argument here?
WOODWARD: Well, I’m reporting a book here about how President Obama’s dealing with these things. And you can't become President a year ago, as he did, and not realize we're at war. It's part of the fabric of life there of the decisions of the intelligence briefings. The information that I have about that, it's very clear that the new administration is taking a very aggressive stance on these matters and are, perhaps, even more than the Bush administration, doing more about the al Qaeda sanctuaries in places like Yemen. And again, this is the key.
STEPHANOPOULOS: In fact, they had 53 drone strikes over the last year, more than the entire Bush administration. But how do you explain then what happened here with the failed Christmas bombing? You had all of the signal intelligence out there pointing to a possible attack by Nigerian. You had the father going to the embassy saying, listen, my son has gone missing, could have been in Yemen. What happened here? How was this missed?
WOODWARD: People or the system was asleep. It should have been detected. People talk about connecting the dots like the multiple dots. You just take two dots, the dot, that the father complained and came and said that his son has been radicalized. Somebody who- and lots of people got that report, had to ask just the simple question, does he have a visa to travel to the United States? Once you got a positive answer to that, all hell should have broken loose. And this guy should have gone on the no-fly list and been investigated. I think that's what the President's quite upset about.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It seems that he is. He's called his team in tomorrow. Real quickly here, the President said he's going to hold his team accountable. What should we expect from the meeting tomorrow?
WOODWARD: You know, I don't think- do more, do better. But here's the problem in all of this, George. All of the focus on airline security, obviously, it's a big deal. But al Qaeda has capabilities to do other things. How about trains? How about buses? The administration has to worry about being like the generals fighting the last war. You can't fight the last terrorist attack, it can come anywhere, anyplace.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You have to be vigilant. Constant vigilance is the answer. Bob Woodward, thanks very much.
