Shinseki Picked To Head Veterans Admin.

(CBS/AP)  President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy.

Mr. Obama will announce the selection of Shinseki, the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry, at a news conference Sunday in Chicago. He will be the first Asian-American to hold the post of Veterans Affairs secretary, adding to the growing diversity of Mr. Obama's cabinet.

"I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home," Mr. Obama said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" to be broadcast Sunday.

NBC released a transcript of the interview after The Associated Press reported that Shinseki was Mr. Obama's pick.

Shinseki's tenure as Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 was marked by constant tensions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which boiled over in 2003 when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion.

Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, belittled the estimate as "wildly off the mark" and the army general was ousted within months. But Shinseki's words proved prophetic after President George W. Bush in early 2007 announced a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating the numbers needed to stem sectarian violence.

"He's one of the smartest guys that the military has produced. He's kind of one of those underrated-type military officers," CBS News Military consultant Mike Lyons told CBS Radio's Sam Litzinger.

Veterans activists who talked to CBS News said that Shinseki is a poignant choice given his critical stance on the war. He'll now be in charge of caring for more than 30,000 combat veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. One former VA official said that Shinseki had better have - or very quickly develop - some healthcare expertise in light of that burden.

Mr. Obama said he chose Shinseki for the VA post because he "was right" in predicting that the U.S. will need more troops in Iraq than Rumsfeld believed at the time.

"When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served - higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate - it breaks my heart," Mr. Obama told NBC.

Shinseki, 66, is slated to take the helm of the government's second largest agency, which was roundly criticized during the Bush administration for underestimating the amount of funding needed to treat thousands of injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands of veterans currently endure six-month waits for disability benefits, despite promises by current VA Secretary James Peake and his predecessor, Jim Nicholson, to reduce delays. The department also is scrambling to upgrade government technology systems before new legislation providing for millions of dollars in new GI benefits takes effect next August.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, praised Shinseki as a "great choice" who will make an excellent VA secretary.

"I have great respect for General Shinseki's judgment and abilities," Akaka said in a statement. "I am confident that he will use his wisdom and experience to ensure that our veterans receive the respect and care they have earned in defense of our nation. President-elect Obama is selecting a team that reflects our nation's greatest strength, its diversity, and I applaud him."

Veterans groups also cheered the decision.

"General Shinseki has a record of courage and honesty, and is a bold choice to lead the VA into the future," said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "He is a man that has always put patriotism ahead of politics, and is held in high regard by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan."

Mr. Obama's choice of Shinseki, who grew up in Hawaii, is the latest indication that the president-elect is making good on his pledge to have a diverse Cabinet.

In Mr. Obama's eight Cabinet announcements so far, white men are the minority with two nominations - Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Robert Gates at Defense. Three are women - Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security, Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador and Hillary Rodham Clinton at State. Eric Holder at the Justice Department is African American, while Bill Richardson at Commerce is Latino.

Shinseki is a recipient of two Purple Hearts for life-threatening injuries in Vietnam.

Upon leaving his post in June 2003, Shinseki in his farewell speech sternly warned against arrogance in leadership.

"You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader," he said. "You can certainly command without that sense of commitment, but you cannot lead without it. And without leadership, command is a hollow experience, a vacuum often filled with mistrust and arrogance."

Shinseki also left with the warning: "Beware a 12-division strategy for a 10-division army."

[woodjd42]

UPDATE: Our efforts to compel Senator Barack Obama to produce a valid birth certificate in order to prove that he is constitutionally eligible to be President of the United States ARE TAKING OFF!


Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States, states, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by GI_Joe

Are you an idiot?

[gi_joe_]

UPDATE: Our efforts to compel Senator Barack Obama to produce a valid birth certificate in order to prove that he is constitutionally eligible to be President of the United States ARE TAKING OFF!


Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States, states, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

[dakotaclark]

Hmmm...

General Shinseki must find ways to change how the VA works. The claims system has issues with regulations and bureaucracy, coupled with lack of staff to handle the workload. The result is the lack of a timely, business like manner.

There are many veterans from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, who are dieing before they can receive compensation for service connected injury or illness. The VA requires the completion of complicated paperwork, especially to veterans in their 60s, 70s and 80s; plus, and repeated, confusing requests for the same information already provided.

For aged or critically ill veterans, there should be an immediate claim decision action. It should only take a few days or a week, not several months to 18 months, to decide a claim issue.

Plus, unfortunately, there are growing numbers of younger veterans needing medical services and compensation.

[McHineguy]

Shinseki was forced to retire for speaking the truth to the Bush administration. It''''s good to see him back in the service of his country.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by CaribouBarbi at 08:13 AM : Dec 07, 2008

I agree except for one thing. I believe a member of the military has to be very careful about public criticism of military plans. It has to do with moral and confidence and the need for an army to function by chain of command.

Shinseki was obviously right about what he said. But I think he should have been more careful about where and how he said it. Once you challenge a military commander you must be ready to relinquish your position in his command.

But I am glad he is back.

[differnet]

jbrown8881,

Taking a page from the neocon book? Anyone who doesn''t agree with you is a traitor. Shame on you. Aren''t you supposed to be the "real American." Real Americans accept dissent. You drank too much koolaid, just as RowdynTex has - just your koolaid was blue and his red.

[differnet]

I didn''t vote for Obama and I didn''t vote against him (in short, the one catagory on my ballot I did not fill out was for the President). I felt that without a voting record, I could not ascertain his policies and if what he was saying was to believed, he was too far to the left on National Security and the military for me to vote for him. However, I feel his choices for his cabinet and major offices in the White House are giving me a greater deal of confidence in his thought process. He is choosing men and women of great pragmatism and experience. I am now tentatively happy with this man as our President. It is said that you can tell who a man truly is by the people who surround him. With his choice of Axelrod for his campaign manager, I was completely flumoxed. Axelrod is a man who uses divisiveness to win elections. But choosing to keep Gates on as Secretary of Defense, selecting Clinton for Secretary of State and choosing Shinseki for Veteran''s Affairs are a very strong signal that he will not act precipitously in the areas of defense and the military. I am also thrilled with his choice of Holder as his AG. It is a clear signal that he intends to clean up the disaster that Gonzales has made of the DOJ - especially the civil rights division. I would still like to see a 30% solution on his cabinet. He would need to select at least 3 more women to serve.

[ravnslikbals]

Another wise choice that shows Obama demands integrity of the people he selects. This noise that Shinseki needs to get up to speed quick on VA affairs only shows what a terrible job ( what else did you expect??) Bush''s regime have done in almost every selection of key positions. Can there be a worst president than Bush? I still don''t see how many people voted for Bush including his 2nd term? Are people really that stupid?

[cariboubarbi]

Shinseki was forced to retire for speaking the truth to the Bush administration. It''s good to see him back in the service of his country.

[whatithink10]

RowdynTex,

Obama could become the best president this country has ever had and you would still complain and complain. And, you know why, because of your EGO!

I give credit to one of the other posters who said he didn''t vote for Obama but Obama is growing on him.

At least he is open to change. You are like a dinosaur.

Sir
Good to have you back.
"Eric was right."