With characteristic snark, Spencer Ackerman commemorates the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s infamous speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln commemorating the end of major combat operations. You know, the one where he had “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” behind him on a big banner.
Of course, the banner referred to the crew of the Lincoln, which was on its way home, having in fact accomplished their assigned mission. As their commander-in-chief told them,
Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.
[…]
Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.
But . . . but . . . didn’t Bush say that it was going to be a cakewalk from there on out? It was going to be over, like, the next week or something, wasn’t it? Judge for yourself:
We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We are helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. And then we will leave — and we will leave behind a free Iraq.
But, as they say, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Ransom Stoddard killed Liberty Valance. And George W. Bush declared the war over five years ago.
Photo credit: CBS News
Correction: The original misidentified the ship as the “USS Roosevelt.”
