Since the last bit of my Hillary Rodham Clinton-confirmation-preview piece focused on the secretary of state-designee’s hard-line views on private military companies, I reached out to Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association — known around town as the genial mercenary lobbyist — for his reaction. Alas, Brooks was traveling to the Middle East, so he couldn’t respond by my deadline. But I’ve just received an email from him, and here’s what he’ll be looking for from Clinton’s confirmation hearing:

I expect she’ll back off her hard line campaign rhetoric on the issue. She will be keen not to paint Obama into a corner by demanding unrealistic timetables or requirements for ending the use of private security. Not sure how her folks at State would take losing their primary security force in Iraq overnight . . .

Spin or insightful prognostication? (Or both?) Perhaps we’ll find out later this morning. Keep obsessively refreshing your RSS reader for The Streak — or however you read our blog! — as I’ll be blogging the hearing. Things kick off at 9:30 a.m. EST.