'The National Security team'

"... By accident or design, Obama has assembled a roster of officials in key positions who work well together and perform their roles effectively. Most of those players are going to change over the next few months, and it’s hard to imagine a new combination that will be as smooth.

Let’s start with the likely departure this summer of Defense Secretary Bob Gates.... Gates has been one of the most effective defense secretaries in recent decades... The same hard-to-replace problem exists with Adm. Mike Mullen,... an unlikely fit with Obama. But he has led the military family with finesse — anticipating problems and offering skeptical judgments on recommendations from the military brass and politicians alike... Mullen’s likely replacement is Marine Gen. James Cartwright, a kind of Obama-in-uniform — dry, cerebral and brilliantly analytical but lacking the warm and fuzzy quality. Where Mullen is open and easy, Cartwright can seem closed and tight, according to several of his colleagues. Still, says one White House official of Cartwright, “He doesn’t open his mouth without saying something impressive.”...

... Panetta was Gates’s favorite, but the White House has now embraced him, too... The only worry at the White House is that Panetta is sometimes accident-prone in his public comments...

The White House has gotten intrigued (pardon the pun) by the idea of Petraeus as CIA director. Petraeus has a knack for back-channel contacts and would be an effective liaison with foreign governments. I also suspect that Petraeus would like the job. But does Obama trust him sufficiently to give him such a sensitive position? We’ll find the answer in a “dead drop” on Pennsylvania Avenue..."