by John McCormick
Following an interview broadcast Sunday morning where he repeatedly tried to brace the country for more tough times ahead, President-elect Barack Obama sought to inject some optimism about the future as he introduced his selection for Veterans Affairs secretary in Chicago.
"I am absolutely confident that if we take the right steps over the coming months that not only can we get the economy back on track, but we can emerge leaner, meaner and ultimately more competitive and more prosperous," he said.
The statement came as Obama introduced a fellow native of Hawaii and early skeptic of Iraq war strategy as his pick for Veterans Affairs secretary at a new an afternoon news conference.
Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki's appointment puts in place a former Army chief of staff who was a leading doubter of the Bush administration's early war planning.
Obama said he would call on Shinseki to cut red tape in the agency and work for full funding of health care benefits for veterans.
"We have a sacred trust to repay a favor, the favor that they have done us," Obama said. "For many of today's troops and their families, the war does not end when they come home. Far too many are suffering from the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Obama noted this being Pearl Harbor Day as he appeared with Shinseki at the Hilton Chicago.
"I can think of no higher responsibility than ensuring men and women who have served our nation in uniform are treated with the care and respect that they have earned," said Shinseki, the recipient of two Purple Hearts during his service in Vietnam. "As you have said, these brave Americans are part of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to the American Revolution."
As a top Army official from 1999 to 2003, Shinseki clashed with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The relations further soured in February 2003, when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion.
Rumsfeld dismissed that estimate as "wildly off the mark" and Shinseki was dismissed within months. In retrospect, he was correct, as President Bush was later required to deploy a "surge" of troops to control violence.
Shinseki, 66, will oversee one of the federal government's largest agencies and one that has come under significant criticism in recent years over the treatment of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry and adds to the growing diversity of Obama's Cabinet.
Obama's appearance with Shinseki followed a wide-ranging interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that was recorded Saturday and broadcast Sunday morning.
Shinseki's appointment follows speculation that Obama would appoint Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois Veterans Affairs Department to the post. She is rumored to be among the group of people under consideration by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill Obama's senate seat.
Post a comment
(Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments aren't posted immediately. They're screened for relevance to the topic, obscenity, spam and over-the-top personal attacks. We can't always get them up as soon as we'd like so please be patient. Thanks for visiting The Swamp.)