Did Woodward book speed along Gen. Jones’ departure?

Gen. James L. Jones didn't care much for top White House players like David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs and Rahm Emanuel, according to Bob Woodward's latest, "Obama's Wars." He referred to them as "the water bugs," "the Politburo" and "the Mafia."

White House sources told the New York Times over the weekend that quotes such as those helped speed along President Obama's decision to replace Jones with deputy Thomas Donilon. "They were very quotable lines," a senior White House official told the paper. (That official, like Woodward's sources, spoke anonymously).

But does the author think he played a role?

"I have no idea," Woodward told CNN's Howard Kurtz on Sunday. "I haven't heard that."

Kurtz continued on the subject, mentioning to Woodward that the Jones quotes "must have ticked some people off." Woodward said it's "quite possible" because "there are a lot of things in there."

Watch Woodward discuss the book and respond to the White House pushing back against his claim that an Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket is "on the table" for 2012:

The Obama campaign may have followed the "no drama" mantra, but stopping leaks while governing presents more difficulties for administrations. It's common for high-ranking officials to try to protect themselves in case policy decisions go bad by leaking how they advocated a different course of action at the time. That way, the official can later point to articles — or a Woodward book chronicling closed-door White House meetings — as evidence they were right all along.

It would be the second time this year that Obama has replaced a high-ranking general because of quotes that made their way to print. Gen. Stanley McChrystal lost his job in June after a damaging profile in Rolling Stone that depicted the Afghanistan commander as being at odds with the civilian leadership.

(Photo of Bob Woodward being filmed in Sept. 2007: AP/ Kevin Wolf)