National security shakeup expected: Officials say Pres. Obama will announce changes in his team this week

"[F]our high-level appointments could be announced as soon as Thursday, a changing of the guard that would probably involve the naming of a replacement for Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. ... Ryan C. Crocker, a five-time ambassador who retired in 2009 after wartime service in Iraq, is likely to be named to take over the U.S. Embassy in Kabul ... [T]he leading candidate to replace Gates is still CIA Director Leon Panetta. As head of [OMB] in the Clinton administration, Panetta helped negotiate the 1993 budget bill, and he is seen as likely to continue the defense procurement and budget reforms Gates has begun. [Gen. David] Petraeus ... emerged last month as a contender for the CIA director's job ... Marine Lt. Gen. John R. Allen, deputy of the U.S. Central Command, is likely to succeed Petraeus as commander of U.S., NATO and coalition forces in Afghanistan." http://wapo.st/fQ0ZXo