In naming retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as veterans affairs secretary, President-elect Barack Obama made what may be the most politically and morally significant choice of his transition.

Politically, Obama has been moving aggressively to close a wide gap between Democrats and the military — and particularly between the party and the officer corps — that began growing in the Vietnam era.

Shinseki's appointment can be seen as one of several steps the incoming president has taken to win respect and trust within the armed forces. Obama's decision to keep Robert Gates as defense secretary and his choice of retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national-security adviser are of a piece in sending a strong, sympathetic signal to the uniformed services.

Morally, Shinseki's appointment marks the vindication of a man who was punished for telling the truth in the run-up to the Iraq War.

As the Army's chief of staff, Shinseki famously told Congress in February 2003 that "several hundred thousand soldiers" would be needed to stabilize Iraq.

Shinseki was quickly rebuked by then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz for being "way off the mark." Vice President Cheney told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" a few weeks later that "to suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don't think is accurate. I think that's an overstatement." It was no overstatement. read more