The selection of experienced centrists — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Robert Gates and James Jones — to head President-elect Barack Obama's national security team points to the possibility that on Iraq the incoming commander in chief may take a more measured path to ending U.S. military involvement than he described during the presidential campaign.

Obama's choices signal a more pragmatic, less ideological approach to asserting U.S. leadership in the world. In announcing Dec. 1 that Clinton is his choice for secretary of state and that Gates has agreed to remain as defense secretary — with Jones as national security advisor in the White House — Obama said he has intentionally surrounded himself with "strong personalities and strong opinions." And he made clear that when push comes to shove, he will be the one to make the tough calls.

Obama will likely rely on Jones, who spent 40 years in the Marine Corps but has never served in the executive branch of government, to lay the groundwork by melding the views of Clinton and Gates.