WH officials: 'Last best chance' to get Afghan war right

When asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whether the new Afghanistan strategy is the "last best chance to get it right," Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said "Yes."

Clinton, a former Senator, chimed in with a stab at the Bush administration: "we also realized how sad it was we had to make that decision eight years later."

Gates stressed that the current plan is to begin the transition to Afghan security forces by July 2011, but said that president Barack Obama and his military leaders will analyze the circumstances in December 2010. The president "has the freedom" to adjust his strategy then if circumstances "dictate" that, he said.