December 6, 2008
Posted: December 6th, 2008 06:10 PM ET
From CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley
Shinseki is a former Army chief of staff.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama will nominate retired Gen. Eric Shinseki to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, two Democratic sources told CNN Saturday. For years, Shinseki has been the patron saint of Pentagon critics who say the former Army chief's sage advice was ignored in 2003, resulting in too few U.S. troops being sent to Iraq after the invasion. Shinseki testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2003 that "something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers would be required" to pacify the country. The comment infuriated some Bush administration officials, and he retired just a few months later. Shinseki has never spoken publicly about his testimony, which has often been cited by critics as evidence that then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ignored the advice of one of his key generals. But as Army chief of staff, Shinseki was not in the chain of command, and played no direct role in drawing up the war plans. Pentagon sources say that, in fact, Shinseki never advocated higher troop levels for Iraq, in part because it was not his job to do so. And sources say that just before the invasion, when asked by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers if he agreed with the war plans, Shinseki voiced no objections. (updated with additional information 7:25 p.m. ET) Filed under: Obama transition |
The latest political news from CNN's Best Political Team, with campaign coverage, 24-7. Sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails. Got a news tip or feedback? For complete political coverage, bookmark CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com Headlines
CNN=Politics Screensaver
New in the Ticker
@KuhnCNN: Great meeting @JackGrayCNN today and seeing @sinderbrandrcnn in NYC! AC Rock Stars! :-)
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:07:10 -0800 @KuhnCNN: Posted today: Clinton foreign trip first on Twitter. http://bit.ly/9Axuh9 /via @PoliticalTicker
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:36:14 -0800 @KuhnCNN: RT @octavianasrCNN: MUST-READ// Coaching tomorrow's world leaders, through social networking -- http://bit.ly/9tmW6x
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:32:51 -0800 @AWMooneyCNN: Metro finally comes and then stops at station for 20 minutes #snoverkill
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:46:27 -0800 @psteinhauserCNN: I just shoveled two feet of snow off the roof. That was fun!
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:14:34 -0800 Categories
Archive
Popular Posts
|
Loading weather data ...