Five years ago today, President Bush appeared on a Navy aircraft carrier and proclaimed that he had "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended" in Iraq. Now the White House admits the "Mission Accomplished" sign placed behind Bush was a bad idea.
Today is the 5-year anniversary of George Bush's announcement that the war in Iraq was over and we had won. He made the statement on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Navy aircraft carrier that had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.
“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” Bush said at the time. “The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on.”
The giant banner reading “Mission Accomplished” that was prominently displayed above him seemed to proclaim that everything was find, the US had won the war against terrorism and everything was going to be just fine and dandy.
The problem? Five years later we're still at war, no one is sure if we're winning or if there is even a possibility of a win, or what a win would even mean?
In fact at least 49 U.S. troops died in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since September when 65 U.S. troops died.
The "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown above his head has been highly mocked and ridiculed as being a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.
And finally, the White House is admitting that it was a bad idea.
The White House has changed explanations for the banner several times eventually saying that the “Mission Accomplished” phrase referred to the carrier’s crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq.
George Bush said that there was no connection between himself and the banner. He also said that the White House had nothing to do with it either. A spokesman later said the ship’s crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.
“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,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday. “And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year.”
I remember seeing that speech and seeing the banner and thinking "wow, is the war really over? this is great!" and I'm 100% positive that 90% of Americans thought the same thing. The banner was placed there on purpose, the White House should have never denied it or tried to distance themselves from it, it was a dumb move by the government to help comfort American's into believing that everything was going to fine.
And as we see now, having just gone through the deadliest month ever for American soldiers in Iraq, it was nothing more than presidential marketing and an outright lie.
