David Sanger at BookHampton

A full house of politically savvy readers attended chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times' David Sanger's discussion of his new book, Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power (Crown).

The follow-up to his 2010 best seller Inheritance, which focused on the status of the nation and world when President Obama took office in 2009, Confront and Conceal delineates the myriad ways Obama has quietly waged war since 2009.

"The Right expected a 'community organizer' and have been shocked by Obama's aggressiveness, said Sanger. "The Left was shocked because they believed Obama's promise to engage our enemies and didn't expect the aggression."

"The fact that he doesn't talk about it signals an emerging doctrine," Sanger said, describing the covert cyber offensives and drone strikes that Obama put to purpose but the Bush White House planned.

"Obama has developed a 'light-footprint' strategy—he's dealing with US adversaries by going in quietly and getting out quickly."

Sanger discussed “Olympic Games” in depth—the cyber-warfare operation that destroyed Iranian nuclear scientists centrifuges, thus setting back Iran's goals of creating a nuclear bomb.

"We're in a high-transition period of time," said Sanger. "We're trying to cope with these new technologies, and that we're not always going to be the super-power in the world."

Signed copies of Confront and Conceal and Inheritance are available at BookHampton in Sag Harbor and online at BookHampton.com.