Mission Accomplished?
CBS/AP remembered: “Mission Accomplished,” 5 Years Later
“Since Bush Announced Major Combat Operations In Iraq Ended, Another 3,920 Troops Have Been Killed.”
“That message may have special meaning for the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln, on which their commander-in-chief declared “Mission Accomplished” five long years ago. Their ship has just begun duty in the Persian Gulf, within striking distance of the coast of Iran.”
US casualties are up, and there is still no plan to exit the war. What was the “mission” and what are the standards for “accomplished”?
10 comments
Five years later, I’d have to recast the slogan as “Mission Demolished.”
I cannot help remembering that even the sailors and airmen on the Lincoln who supported Bush, and gloried in the moment, were nonetheless delayed a day in their return home so that Commander Codpiece could have his photo-op.
As I recall, the ship was turned so that all cameras recording the event were pointed out to sea, even though the ship was within sight of land. The symbolic value of that act speaks volumes: not only everything Bush says, but everything he appears to do, is a lie.
I lift my glass in sad remembrance of all our troops who have died… needlessly and in vain… since that day.
They spent at least two extra days at sea to stage this spectacle. There were a lot of annoyed family members who had flown in for the reunion and got stuck waiting around. Their six-month deployment had already been extended by four months, and then this crap at the end.
I really get angry at the way the Hedgemony uses the military as stage dressing.
and Perino, that so called press spokesman said today
“Yes, I get — no, I understand. That’s the anniversary of when that banner flew on that ship. President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said “mission accomplished for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission.”
i dont know whether to laugh or cry
i dont know whether to laugh or cry
That’s for sure. At first, we cried, then we laughed… now what? I don’t know.
Hmm… the mission:
Quagmire accomplished: Check.
Defense budget glutted, domestic budget gutted: Check.
Halliburton enriched: Check.
Oil companies enriched: Check.
Country bankrupted with unpayable debts: Check.
Yeppers, Mission Accomplished!
– Badtux the Snarky Penguin
Who knew there were bouquets with C4 in the center?
Thousands of dead later and they still haven’t articulated what in hell we’re doing there.
Yeah, I think the mission accomplished was getting a full out war going on in Iraq.
They just wanted the power. They got it and haven’t done a single worthwhile thing with it.
So… was this part of the mission?
20 wounded, 49 vehicles damaged in U.S. attack on Sadr Hospital
Repeat after me… “The only way to win a war is to win the hearts and minds… The only way…”
Air strikes, and target selection was part of my job, are worthless and counter-productive in urban fighting. Direct, targeted fire is the only way to go to minimize collateral damage.
Whatever goodwill that may have been generated by the reduction of violence in the “surge” is gone as a result of the Da’wa/ISCI “election campaign” to defeat the Mahdi Army.