Today, of course, is the day that George W. Bush "landed" his plane on the flight deck of the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, to the delight of Americans everywhere, and announced that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended in the battle of Iraq and the United States and our allies have prevailed." And who could forget this:
The White House has gone to great lengths to hide that banner, or blame the Navy for wanting to post it. Take these comments from a Presidential Press Conference on October 28, 2003:
"Nora.
Q Mr. President, if I may take you back to May 1st when you stood on the USS Lincoln under a huge banner that said, "Mission Accomplished." At that time you declared major combat operations were over, but since that time there have been over 1,000 wounded, many of them amputees who are recovering at Walter Reed, 217 killed in action since that date. Will you acknowledge now that you were premature in making those remarks?
THE PRESIDENT: Nora, I think you ought to look at my speech. I said, Iraq is a dangerous place and we've still got hard work to do, there's still more to be done. And we had just come off a very successful military operation. I was there to thank the troops.
The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. But my statement was a clear statement, basically recognizing that this phase of the war for Iraq was over and there was a lot of dangerous work. And it's proved to be right, it is dangerous in Iraq. It's dangerous in Iraq because there are people who can't stand the thought of a free and peaceful Iraq. It is dangerous in Iraq because there are some who believe that we're soft, that the will of the United States can be shaken by suiciders -- and suiciders who are willing to drive up to a Red Cross center, a center of international help and aid and comfort, and just kill. "
Of course, given this administration and its allergic reaction to the truth, it was, not suprisingly, a BIG FUCKING LIE.
Then, Tony Snow took the excuse machine for a ride and claimed that President Bush meant exactly the opposite of "mission accomplished" when he stood in front of the banner. Right.
Yesterday at the White House press briefing, spokeswoman Dana "Peroxide" Perino said the real problem with that banner was that it wasn't more specific:
Maybe I'm out in left field, but I have never seen or heard of any other US Navy Ship flying anything like a "Mission Accomplished" banner, let alone something that says "Mission Accomplished For These Sailors Who Are On This Ship On Their Mission". That is just absolutely fucking ridiculous - though completely in keeping with this administration and its predicliction for reaching 110 on the bullshit meter.
But here's the completely sad and tragic reality of "mission accomplished". From March 19, 2003 - May 1, 2003, the United States lost 140 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. Figure 4 times that number wounded, so maybe around 560 or so.
But consider these statistics, also from icasualties.org/oif:
718 American casualties from May 2, 2003 - June 28, 3004 (the official handoff of soveriegnty to the Iraqi people);
580 American casualties from June 29, 2004 - January 30, 2005 (the first Iraqi elections);
715 American casualties from January 31, 2005 - December 14, 2005 (the second Iraqi elections);
933 American casualties from December 15, 2005 - January 31, 2007
977 American casualties from February 1, 2007 - May 1, 2008.
The grim total is 4,063 Americans killed in Iraq, everyone of them with family and friends who will carry their deaths with them for the rest of their lives. Upwards of 30,000 Americans wounded. Anywhere from 100,000 to 600,00 Iraqis killed and wounded. Nearly 4 million Iraqis displaced, either within Iraq or in neighboring countries like Jordan and Syria. Close to $520 billion dollars spent.
Mission most certainly not accomplished, Mr. President. Not for the Iraqi people and not for the United States of America.
Update: How sad that on the 5th anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" word comes of an Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan - it was his seventh deployment between Iraq and Afghanistan. While it's comforting to know that SFC David McDowell died doing what he loved, it's tragic and irresponsible beyond belief that a nation like ours fighting multiple wars has not instituted a draft.
Update II: Click here to relive the memories of May Day, 2003.
2 comments:
"The grotesque buffoonery of this man offends the eye and the soul."
http://tinyurl.com/3s4trl
'nuff said.
ServingPatriot
261 days left.
Here's today's quote from the Bush Out of Office Countdown calendar:
"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we mad eour own people more secure."
Of course, unmentioned, is our support of Hussein during the 1980's Iran/Iraq war, and the fact that we are not safer today, and neither are the Iraqi people.
"TRENDS IN 2007
AL-QA’IDA AND ASSOCIATED TRENDS: Al-Qa’ida (AQ) and associated networks remained the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners in 2007. It has reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities through the exploitation of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), replacement of captured or killed operational lieutenants, and the restoration of some central control by its top leadership, in particular Ayman al-Zawahiri. Although Usama bin Ladin remained the group’s ideological figurehead, Zawahiri has emerged as AQ’s strategic and operational planner."
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2007/103704.htm
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