>> can you comment on the inference that secretary gates has in the book that both secretary clinton and president obama admitted their opposition to the iraq surge and that politics played a role in their opposition to the iraq surge. there was an inference that the president was engaging in this discussion. >> what i don't understand about that is anybody who has covered barack obama going all of the way back to his race for the senate knows that he was opposed to the iraq war. that was his view running for the senate. his view as senator. view as candidate for the presidency. so it would be entirely inconsistent for him not to hold the position that he held with regards to the surge. i don't know what conversation that reverse to. it doesn't track based on what i know and what everybody here knows about the president's positions through the years going back to 2002 on these matters. >> you have a very real deadline