The War over Tom Donilon

For the past few weeks, Barack Obama's foreign-policy team has been grappling with world issues ranging from the urgent to the mundane, be it Syria's virulent civil war, North Korea's provocative threats, the historic visit to Washington by the president of Burma, or plans for a summit with China.

But throughout this period, the senior-most officials of the administration have also been working on another concerted but hidden campaign: to defend National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon against growing criticism from inside the administration and by those who served in the first term, and are now speaking out or quietly settling scores.