We Need A Hero

[babylonsister]

I've been out of town so Shinseki is new newz to me. Guys like Ackerman writing this stuff is, too. :thumbsup: Apologies if this has already been posted.

http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2008/12/06/we-need-a-hero/

We Need A Hero
By: Spencer Ackerman Saturday December 6, 2008 10:13 pm


A source close to the presidential transition just confirmed to me that Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff who stood up to Donald Rumsfeld and told the truth about the real military costs of the Iraq war, will be Veterans Affairs secretary. Apparently Obama will make the announcement on Meet The Press tomorrow.

To say this is an inspired choice underscores its magnitude. Shinseki's personal courage and virtue are close to unparalleled in the current generation of general officers. He knows the sacrifices of war personally, as he left part of his right foot in Vietnam. The new generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans -- already underserved by the country that sent them to war -- can know that he has their backs. After all, before the war began, he all but ended his career (Rumsfeld had announced his successor months before after they feuded over the Crusader artillery system) by telling Congress that the indefinite occupation of Iraq would require hundreds of thousands of troops to keep the peace, far beyond the antiseptic and now-discredited estimates of the Bush administration. At his retirement ceremony, Shinseki gave a prescient and impassioned speech imploring the Pentagon to "beware a 12-division strategy for a 10-division Army."

Last year, an exemplary soldier named Paul Yingling wrote a scathing essay indicting the generals who acquiesced to the Bush administration's inadequate plans for the occupation. It was titled "A Failure in Generalship." Yingling accused the current generation of generals of cowardice, egotism, careerism and dereliction of duty, putting self-interested deference to the administration before integrity, intellectual honesty and service to both the frontline soldier, sailor, airman and marine and the country itself. Ric Shinseki was the man who stood against this unfortunate trend, and he paid for his integrity with his career. To see him vindicated is to witness a proud moment in American history.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Excellent post.

[Dark]

2. "i need a hero"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=torq0bVAelc&feature=related

[exman]

3. inspired?

oh darn, I'm just no wordsmith. But gee don't it look good! :bounce: :applause: Once again I am thrilled by this new administration shaping up. The right people for the right job. Competence, integrity, common sense,...a host of other positive things that we have been missing. This is what "support or troops" is supposed to mean.