The appointment of Gen. Eric Shinseki as head of the Dept of Veterans Affairs this Dec. 7, 2008 highlights a remarkable turn of events...On a day remembered as a "Day of Infamy" in USA history and the attack on the US military port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese Imperial Power, Pres. elect Obama chose to name this country's first Japanese / American / Hawaiian ( and highly decorated member of the 25th Inf Div) to head the office of of the Dept. of Veteran Affairs.....,Bravo !.,,,..If one remembers, Gen Shinseki was chosen by the Bush team to lead it's military forces as the US prepared to go to war in Iraq. In testimonies before Congress , he stressed the need to go into combat with more than adequate combat forces, supplies, infrastructure teams, and more,,,,ie. a 2003 press release:
"Shinseki gained lasting fame for publicly clashing with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the planning of the war in Iraq over how many troops the U.S. would need to keep in Iraq for the postwar occupation of that country. As Army Chief of Staff, General Shinseki testified to the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee that "something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers" would probably be required for postwar Iraq. This was an estimate far higher than the figure being proposed by Secretary Rumsfeld in his invasion plan, and it was rejected in strong language by both Rumsfeld and his Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz, who was another chief planner of the invasion and occupation.[1] From then on, Shinseki's influence on the Joint Chiefs of Staff reportedly waned.[2] The end of his term of Army Chief of Staff came in June 2003, just three months after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and at that time General Shinseki retired from the military.

Over time, it has become almost universally accepted in U.S. political circles that Shinseki was correct.[3] When the insurgency took hold in postwar Iraq, Shinseki's comments and their public rejection by the civilian leadership were often cited by those who felt the Bush administration deployed too few troops to Iraq. On November 15, 2006, in testimony before Congress, CENTCOM Commander Gen. John Abizaid said that General Shinseki's estimate had proved correct." .................................................. It seems so appropriate that the man who "had it right" to lead the troops into war but was bypassed , is now the "right man" to oversee our troops that now serve or have served in military service to the USA......I'm not sure if it's fate, providence , or simply "Karma", but whatever it is,,,,It's correct, and "Kudo's" go out to Gen. Shinseki...as you continue to serve & honor your country ..... May God bless you & your family, Mitchell G. Abraham, Jr.