Obama’s Choice of Gen Shinseki For VA: Good or Bad For Vets?

General Eric Shinseki gained controversey, even noteriety, when he predicted that the invasion of Iraq would take a lot more troops than the number predicted by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.  When asked about the appointment of General Shinseki to head the Department of Veterans Affairs on “Meet the Press,” part of Barack Obama’s answer was, “He was right” about the troop numbers.

I thought at the time: being right on that one issue doesn’t make a person the best leader of the Veterans….

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From the Washington Post

My own view is that Shinseki is a shrewd choice.  He is an honorable man — he has handled his retirement much better than the anti-war faction has — and he will give the VA post a higher profile than it has had in the past.  Ironically, his sky-high reputation will give him authority to serve as something of a check on the Administration if they move in ways detrimental to Veterans.  What is your view?Read the rest:

 

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President-elect Barack Obama (L) introduces retired General Eric K. Shinseki as nominee for Veterans Affairs secretary during a news conference in Chicago, December 7, 2008.REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)

Obama chides Russia but promises new relations

President-elect Barack Obama called for a reappraisal of frosty US-Russia relations, while chiding Moscow for “bullying” Georgia and other neighboring nations.

In an interview on NBC program “Meet the Press” broadcast Sunday, Obama said he was determining when he would meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev or the country’s powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

But he stressed that after he succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20: “I think that it’s going to be important for us to reset US-Russia relations.”

 
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin listens during a nationally televised town-hall style session in Moscow on December 4, 2008. US President-elect Barack Obama called for a reappraisal of frosty US-Russia relations, while chiding Moscow for “bullying” Georgia and other neighboring nations.(AFP/RIA/File/Alexey Druzhinin)