…is repudiation of the no-nothing-ness of the past. From Bloomberg:
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — President-elect Barack Obama said the nation owes its military veterans “a sacred trust” and named retired four-star General Eric Shinseki to make the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “a 21st century” system.
“No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans,” Obama said at a press conference in Chicago, held on the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. “No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure that they have the support that they need.”
Shortly before the 2003 U.S. invasion to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Shinseki told Congress it would take several hundred thousand troops to stabilize postwar Iraq, more than then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had estimated.
Rumsfeld roundly rejected Shinseki’s assessment, insisting the effort could be accomplished with a U.S. commitment of no more than 150,000 troops. He also cut short Shinseki’s tenure as chief of staff, which critics of the Bush administration said was punishment for Shinseki’s testimony.