The president-elect, Barack Obama, has summoned General James Jones, his choice of national security adviser, and Hillary Clinton, his nominee as secretary of state, for a brainstorming session of his national security team in Chicago tomorrow. The aims are to draft an agenda for the first weeks of government and to fill the remaining staff posts.

It could give an early indication of which of the two titans - one military and one political - will win the war of the new president’s ear. Jones and Clinton have each insisted on clear demarcation lines, sources say, so that their fiefdoms are protected. It is Jones, however, the 6ft 5in four-star general and former Nato commander, who will have ready access to Obama at the White House.

At the top table, Jones can expect strong support from General Eric Shinseki, an old friend and ally who has been chosen to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. The rise of the generals under Obama, in whom the peace movement thought it had an ally, is gathering pace.

Lawrence Korb, a former assistant defence secretary under President Ronald Reagan, who has advised Obama, said: “There's no doubt that the new administration is trying to show that the antipathy between Democrats and the military doesn’t exist any more.”

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