The End is Near!

The latest photo from the White House Flickr Stream (posted yesterday — only a few hours after it was taken) reminds us that the end (of the Afghanistan strategy re-review) is near.

According to both the picture and the impressively comprehensive caption, we see Obama with the Joint Chiefs — a rain of stripes and chest hardware from here to high heaven. Notice (if you could somehow miss it) the prime placement of the clock (tic, tic, tic) as well as the choice of angle (as compared to this exactly one month before) specifically omitting the political team. Obviously, no time for politics now, right?

And, in White House Flickr Stream style, because the public (and the critics) are anxious for Obama to weigh in, we know who’s doing the talking.

(image: Pete Souza. caption: President Barack Obama holds a briefing on Afghanistan with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Situation Room at the White House on Oct. 30, 2009. Seated at the table clockwise from the President are NSC Advisor James L. Jones, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General James T. Conway, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead, WH Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force General Norton A. Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Army General George W. Casey Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James E. Cartwright, Secretary of Defense William Gates, and Vice President Joe Biden.)