This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Barack Obama chose a general sacked by the Bush administration for doubting its Iraq war strategy for his cabinet yesterday to appeal to leftwing supporters.

Obama, in announcing the selection of Eric Shinseki, as veterans' affairs secretary, made it clear that he saw the choice as vindication of a general whose advice - had it been heeded - could have reduced the toll of the Iraq war.

Shinseki, who was army chief of staff only to be disregarded and later vilified by Pentagon chief at the time, Donald Rumsfeld, and the deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, for telling Congress in February 2003 that keeping order in Iraq after the invasion would need several hundred thousand troops.

"No one will ever doubt that this former army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans," Obama told a press conference in Chicago announcing the appointment yesterday.

The choice of Shinseki could go some way in satisfying opponents of the Iraq war disappointed at the appointment of Hillary Clinton, who voted for the invasion, as secretary of state, and the decision to keep on George Bush's Pentagon chief, Robert Gates.

It was announced on a day when Obama offered his bleakest assessment to date of the economic crisis.

"The economy is going to get worse before it gets better," he told NBC television. He announced the biggest public works expenditure in half a century in his weekly radio on video address on Saturday, saying there would be projects to improve roads and bridges, make public schools more energy efficient, and computerise medical records.

He said he was focused on projects that would create the most jobs in short order, saying the economy was like a critically ill patient who needed a blood transfusion for survival.

Shinseki, 66, is a decorated combat veteran and lost most of his right foot in Vietnam. He is the highest ranking general of Asian-American descent, and his cabinet announcement appeared timed yesterday to coincide with the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour.

The general earned the wrath of Rumsfeld when he told Congress that it might take several hundred thousand US troops to control Iraq after the invasion.

The deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, said Shinseki's assessment was "wildly off the mark". Both men boycotted Shinseki's retirement ceremony.

George Bush acknowledged Shinseki was correct when he ordered the surge into Iraq in 2007. His appointment was seen yesterday as further vindication.

"It was wrong for the Bush Administration to mistreat him the way it did," Carl Levin, the chairman of the armed services committee told Fox television.

He said the choice of Shinseki was a signal that Obama would tolerate dissenting views.

Richard Shelby, a Republican Senator for Alabama, also praised the choice.

It could also shore up morale among veterans. The Bush Administration has been accused of underestimating the numbers of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.