Now that we have some of the names of Obama's subcabinet Mideast team, and a clearer pcture of their superiors at the Cabinet level, it is possible to make the first tentative assessment of the appointments we have up to now. I would say that the worst fears about Obama that were expressed during the campaign, that his might be an administration pursuing an agenda of the left, are not being realized in the area of Mideast personnel. Clinton, Jones, Gates, Donilon, Steinberg, Blinken, Blair, Panetta, Burns, Ross, Slaughter, Einhorn--not one of them would have been on the short list of the movement progressives. On the other hand, nowhere on the list so far is there a true hawk, either. There is not an Elliot Abrams or a Doug Feith or a John Bolton or a Paul Wolfowitz. Broadly, it is a team that represents the center of the Democratic Party, plus a lot of experience. I know and can find areas of agreement with many of them. Overall, not bad so far. More to come.