Quiet Power

President-elect Barack Obama officially announced today, on the anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the selection of four-star General Eric K. Shinseki to head Veteran Affairs (VA). General Shinseki is a Japanese-American from Hawaii who courageously fought in Vietnam from which he came home seriously wounded and having lost most of a foot. He served and climbed through the Army ranks for the last 40 years, accomplishing many firsts as an Asian-American. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he is notoriously known for getting the troop numbers right in Iraq, upsetting then-Secretary Rumsfeld's vision of a leaner, meaner armed force. A man of quiet power, integrity and strength, vindicated at last.

He is a man who has actually been at war and knows what it means to come back from the darkside. The Afterw@rd will be looking forward to following General Shinseki as he runs the VA, a bureaucratic behemoth that's been too busy being unaccountable for the rising tide of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorders among the ranks of soldiers returning home.

It's refreshing not to expect to hear any more about paper shredding or e-mail trails with instructions on how to cover-up or curb the diagnosis of soldiers and veterans with PTSD and/or suicidal idealation. A new chapter of hope beings for the VA. I trust General Shinseki will deliver in his own quiet way.

The Afterw@rd