Obama formally taps Shinseki for cabinet

Retired Army Gen. Erik K. Shinseki, who challenged the Bush White House and Department of Defense over troop plans for Iraq, will lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in Barack Obama’s administration.

Obama formally announced his selection on Sunday at a press conference commemorating the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor.

{mosads}Obama said Shinseki, a Japanese-American, agreed to join the incoming administration because “both he and I share a reverence for those who serve.”

Shinseki will likely have a warm welcome in the Senate for his nomination where he is known for challenging the troop plan for the invasion of Iraq.

Shinseki, the Army’s chief of staff during the run-up of the Iraq war, told the Senate Armed Services Committee while pressed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that the United States needed several hundred thousand troops to keep the peace in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz—one of the architects of the war–strongly disputed Shinseki’s assessment. Wolfowitz called the general’s estimate “way off the mark.” Shinseki had a strained relationship with Rumsfeld not just over the war in Iraq but also over Rumsfeld’s vision of transforming the military into a lighter force strongly relying on high technology rather than more people, sources said.

As VA Secretary, Shinseki would control one of the largest agencies, which administers health care and other benefits for the nation’s active military and veterans, as well as their families. The VA is second largest department after the Department of Defense.

Shinseki serves on the board of directors at Honeywell, Ducommun Inc., BancWest Crop., Guardian Life Insurance Co. of American and is a member of the advisory board at DC Capital Partners, LLC.

Shinseki is the first Asian American nominated for Obama’s cabinet. He was born in Hawaii, where Obama has roots.