Gen. Jim Jones talks about consensus in Obama administration

From Jamie McIntyre
CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The new National Security advisor, Gen. Jim Jones, says the challenge he will face in working with high-profile Cabinet members - including the new secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - will be to achieve consensus among the disparate members of President-elect Barack Obama's national security team.

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Jones said he needs to ensure the president-elect's vision is achieved.

"At the end of the day, (on) the major issues, he will make the decision and everyone will salute smartly and carry it out," Jones said in a phone interview soon after the official announcement in Chicago of Obama's national security team. "I think the national security advisor can make certain that the president's priorities are clearly understood and articulated and carried out so that we actually arrive to some conclusion that is well understood and well supported."

Jones himself had been in disagreement with Obama about the senator's proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. But he said that the recent Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Iraqi government "gives us a pathway to work in. So I don't know of anything that would put us at odds."