James Fallows put together this great word-cloud showing how often particular terms were mentioned during the recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, former Senator Chuck Hagel:

As Fallows points out:

What do you have to peer to see? Oh, how about the place where the largest number of U.S. troops are now in combat: “Afghanistan.” Or “Iraq.” And what is not there at all? Or, if present, nearly impossible to find? How about “NATO.” Or “China,” or “Japan.” Or “Pakistan,” or “Russia.” Or “budget.” Or “veterans,” “women in combat,” etc. “Oil.”

Maybe one question to focus attention on, going forward, is “What are we still doing in Afghanistan?”