Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'

Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

In 2003, at the time I made my "Old Europe" comment, the center of gravity in NATO and Europe had long since shifted to the East. With the former Warsaw Pact countries joining NATO, the alliance has a different mix today. Some people were sensitive about my comment because they thought it was a pejorative way of highlighting demographic realities. Apparently they felt it pointed a white light at a weakness in Europe - an aging population. Europe has come some distance since World War II in becoming Europe.

Every president when he is elected has to live with the pluses and minuses his predecessor leaves, which includes benefits as well as burdens.

Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.

The United States, as all you know, did not come to Iraq for oil, not to occupy. We came here only to help.