Gibbs skirts Rahm-Gates split

Press secretary Robert Gibbs had little clarification today over an apparent split between Robert Gates and Rahm Emanuel on Afghanistan.

Gates told reporters that Obama should not necessarily wait until the results of the Afghanistan election are clear to make a decision about sending more troops to the country.

"I see this as a process, not something that's going to happen all of the sudden," Gates said, according to Reuters. "I believe that the president will have to make his decisions in the context of that evolutionary process."

Emanuel, on the other hand, said on Sunday that a decision to send more troops would be dependent on having "a credible Afghan partner," a hinted that wouldn't be clear until the election results were clear.

Pressed today about the apparent split, Gibbs had this to offer:

"I think, I think again we have to insure that there’s – that progress is being made on the civilian side on Afghanistan. We’ve got as I’ve said a sizable force there. The notion that we don’t have, that we are not involved with dealing with the Afghan government now doesn’t make a whole lot of sense."