Here's what you get when a real president (Papa Bush) arranges for his son to accept the right choice for secretary of defense, specifically Robert Gates:
In a letter to Mrs. Clinton sent yesterday, Mr. Gates offered his assurance that contingency planning "is indeed taking place with my active involvement as well as that of senior military and civilian officials and our commanders in the field." Mr. Gates added that he considers such planning "to be a priority for this Department."
The Defense secretary also sought to play peacemaker by clarifying Mr. Edelman's earlier note to Mrs. Clinton in which he asserted that "premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda":
"I emphatically assure you that we do not claim, suggest or otherwise believe that congressional oversight emboldens our enemies, nor do we question anyone's motives in this regard. My statements to this effect have been frequent and unambiguous. That said, we all recognize that there are multiple audiences for what we say, and need to be careful not to undermine the morale of our troops or encourage our enemies - the point I think Ambassador Edelman was trying to make in his letter," Mr. Gates wrote. .
"I truly regret that this important discussion went astray and I also regret any misunderstanding of intention."