The Chicago Sun-Times explained why in its lede:
The very man rejected by the Bush administration for warning that Iraq would be no cakewalk is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be Veterans Affairs secretary.
Eric Shinseki, 66, was Army chief of staff when months before the Iraq war was launched, he warned that several hundred thousand troops would be needed -- more than the Bush administration planned.
He also warned that ethnic rivalries would break out and that American troops would face a long, difficult clean-up afterward. Bush administration officials repudiated Shinseki's remarks.
But on Sunday, Obama said, "He was right."
My guess this appointment might indicate that Shinseki may be in line for the Defense Secretary job, when Gates steps down...
