WASHINGTON — Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Gen. Eric 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 Bush in early 2007 announced a “surge” of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating.
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