We post a lot about veterans issues at BSP, so this national story deserves a spot here.
From the AP feed at KTTC:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary.
The officials said Obama will announce his selection Sunday. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the official announcement.
Shinseki is the former Army chief of staff who upset his civilian bosses in 2003 when he testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the U.S. invasion. He was forced out of his job within months for being "wildly off the mark." But his words proved prophetic after President George W. Bush in early 2007 announced a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating.
Reuters reports that President-elect Obama will announce his VA secretary pick tomorrow:
Obama is scheduled to hold a news conference in Chicago at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks.
Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to improve services for retired U.S. military men and women if he won the White House.
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