White House Slaps Back At Gates Book

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's spokesman says it's "hardly news" that there were disagreements at the White House over policy in Afghanistan.

A new book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates accuses the National Security Council of "operational meddling."

As for President Barack Obama, Gates writes that he didn't "believe in his own strategy" for the war in Afghanistan, and didn't "consider the war to be his." Gates said for Obama, it was "all about getting out."

Obama spokesman Jay Carney says the president "believes thoroughly in the mission" there.

But Gates says Obama's decision to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was "one of the most courageous decisions" he's ever seen in the White House.

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