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Shinseki To Be Veterans' Affairs Secretary
NBC Washington ^ | 12/6/08

Posted on 12/06/2008 3:44:15 PM PST by jamese777

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcwashington.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bhodod; bhoveterans; dod; draft; ericshinseki; shinseki; veterans; wot
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1 posted on 12/06/2008 3:44:16 PM PST by jamese777
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To: jamese777

Isn’t he the same a-hole that decided ALL troops should wear a beret, not just the special forces guys who actually earned it?


2 posted on 12/06/2008 3:48:09 PM PST by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: jamese777
They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the official announcement.

Oops.

3 posted on 12/06/2008 3:48:16 PM PST by JRios1968 (Sarah Palin is what Willis was talkin' about!)
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To: jamese777

Why? Isn’t he the one that came up with the black beret because he felt that would give each and every soldier a sense of pride. I seem to remember that he compared it to the ‘green beret’.


4 posted on 12/06/2008 3:54:18 PM PST by Parmy
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To: Slump Tester

Yep, That’s Mr Feel Good!


5 posted on 12/06/2008 3:54:18 PM PST by TexasTransplant (NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET)
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To: JRios1968

Many times these “condition of anonymity” leaks are made to give a chance for it to be a trial balloon so if it fails it doesn’t reflect badly on Obama. If everyone laughs, they just claim it was only a rumor and never really true. Often the “anonymous” leaker is the official spokesperson, but just tells the press “now this is spoken on condition of anonymity”.


6 posted on 12/06/2008 3:56:18 PM PST by KarlInOhio (11/4: The revolutionary socialists beat the Fabian ones. Where can we find a capitalist party?)
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To: Parmy
Maybe he will give everyone at the VA an orange beret.

However, he was right about Rumsfeld's estimate of troops needed in Iraq being way too low.

7 posted on 12/06/2008 3:57:37 PM PST by KarlInOhio (11/4: The revolutionary socialists beat the Fabian ones. Where can we find a capitalist party?)
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To: Parmy

>> Isn’t he the one that came up with the black beret because he felt that would give each and every soldier a sense of pride.

I thought wearing the uni and serving your country gave you pride? Good to know that Zerobama hires the Bush rejects like General Feelgood.


8 posted on 12/06/2008 3:58:13 PM PST by max americana
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To: Slump Tester

Yes.

But, he also wanted a larger force in the Iraq War.


9 posted on 12/06/2008 3:58:22 PM PST by BGHater (Obama is a Neocon.)
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To: Slump Tester

Yup, one and the same. Everyone should wear the same beret so no one’s feelings would be hurt.


10 posted on 12/06/2008 4:00:58 PM PST by Carley (Prayers for Sgt. Eddie Ryan)
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To: JRios1968

The O made the announcement official. Puke


11 posted on 12/06/2008 4:01:31 PM PST by Carley (Prayers for Sgt. Eddie Ryan)
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To: KarlInOhio

Didn’t he want 400,000 to 500,000 troops in Iraq.

And where did he think we were going to get that number?


12 posted on 12/06/2008 4:02:32 PM PST by Carley (Prayers for Sgt. Eddie Ryan)
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To: BGHater

And he was right! Folks can dump on him for the beret but you can’t dump on him for looking out for his soldiers.


13 posted on 12/06/2008 4:02:39 PM PST by blaquebyrd
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To: BGHater

You need two hands to put a beret on. You needed only one hand to put the old baseball cap on.

Also, recently it was decided that combat badges (hitherto restricted only to infantrymen) would now be awarded to certain other branches (such as the armored and possibly the engineers). Which means, that the branch which has the lowliest, dirtiest, and most casualty-ridden job gets deprived of one of its unique distinctions, which helped give it pride.

Pretty soon we’ll just start handing out medals to everyone like they hand out good grades to everyone in schools, so that no child fails...


14 posted on 12/06/2008 4:03:25 PM PST by CondorFlight (I)
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To: Parmy
"Isn't he the one that came up with the black beret because he felt that would give each and every soldier a sense of pride."

I don't think it gave a sense of pride to soldiers, but seeing a pregnant female soldier in maternity Battle Dress Uniform and a black "Ranger" beret sure gave a sense of pride to Marines.

15 posted on 12/06/2008 4:04:04 PM PST by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; AuH2ORepublican; Kuksool; Norman Bates; LdSentinal; ExTexasRedhead; ...

Eric Shinseki is a protoge’ of Senator Dan Inouye, who is up for reelection in 2010, when he will be 86 y/o. I’ve read that Inouye wants Shineski to be his successor.


16 posted on 12/06/2008 4:07:24 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (If Islam conquers the world, the Earth will be at peace because the human race will be killed off.)
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To: jamese777

Has anyone here served with him? Could you give us some inside info on what he is really like?


17 posted on 12/06/2008 4:08:13 PM PST by Ken522
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To: jamese777

Better choice than Max Cleland.


18 posted on 12/06/2008 4:09:23 PM PST by AmericanGirlRising (The cow is in the ditch. We know how it got there. Now help me get it out!)
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To: jamese777
Re: The Ranger beret.
Earned, Not Issued.
19 posted on 12/06/2008 4:10:00 PM PST by smokingfrog (Buy'em cheap. Bury'em deep.)
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To: Parmy

well, in the pic at the link he’s wearing Ranger rocker on his sleeve, but no CIB.....so he gave away the Black Beret

and the surge didn’t need “several hundred thousand”.....it was well under 200K total, IIRC

what a guy!.....


20 posted on 12/06/2008 4:11:20 PM PST by Vn_survivor_67-68 (CALL CONGRESSCRITTERS TOLL-FREE @ 1-800-965-4701)
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