BY TAYLOR MARSH
Obama deserves full throated praise for such a wise choice at such a moment,
at a time when the country and the world are looking for signs about how he
will lead as commander in chief. I cannot say enough about the choice of former
General Shinseki to head the VA.
Remembering back when Bush pushed a new strategy that vindicated Gen. Shinseki
(source, circa
2007):
After President Bush told the nation on Wednesday night that he was ordering
a rapid increase of American forces in Iraq, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki was not
among the retired officers to offer instant analysis.But the president’s new strategy, with its explicit acknowledgment
that not enough troops had been sent to Iraq to establish control, was a vindication
for General Shinseki, who as Army chief of staff publicly told Congress as
much just before the war began in 2003. [...]
The appointment of Shinseki to head the VA is a direct repudiation of the Bush-Cheney
administration and its Iraq war policy, as well as the Administrations treatment of the military. There
is no single appointment that could have sent a louder message to the current
Administration than giving General Shinseki his due. He was correct. His elevation
to leader of the VA brings back memories of how he was treated for being so.
James
Fallows excerpts “Blind into Baghdad,” which reminds us all of
the horrifically incompetent Rumseld who humiliated Shinseki.
Spencer
Ackerman links to an
amazing piece by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling that excoriates the generals who
gave in to Bush, something I covered around here quite a bit.
That Shinseki will receive this honor today, December 7th with all its symbolism of Pearl harbor, makes the justice twice
as sweet.
The George W. Bush “legacy project” just took a direct hit.
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