As you read about the largest air assault since the Iraq war began, why not take a moment to reflect?
“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” - President George W. Bush, USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003
And, while you’re at it, think about the people who swallowed it hook, line and sinker.
And think about how, according to people like Chris Matthews, we enjoy the fact that we got what we voted for. We got what we wanted.
“We’re proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who’s physical, who’s not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who’s president. Women like a guy who’s president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It’s simple. We’re not like the Brits.” - (MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, 5/1/03)
I’m not completely sure, but I think he was trying to compliment “the Brits.”
[BONUS: Media Matters covers how the media has basically ignored Bush’s flip/flop on the subject of timetables. What kind of protection is this, that the media is offering? Allow the president to beat his detractors over the head with dire predictions about the effects of timetables, until the White House completely flips on the issue. Under cover of darkness.]
Posted by James at March 17, 2006 8:00 AMIt's our own fault really. We all have this crazy notion that "Mission Accomplished" means the mission has been completed successfully. while this is true, if you had consulted wikipedia you would see that "Mission Accomplished", in respect to matters of war, means:
"for the time being, until we realize that we're still there after 3 years and fighting with those pesky armed-civilians who are impeding our mission to spread democrazy, so, since we're there, let's just lay the smackdown...longhorn style!"
so, you see, it's really our own dumb fault for not having as large a vocabulary as our "hero" president.
Posted by: ryan at March 17, 2006 9:54 AMLet us remember exactly what the mission was that we were trying to accomplish: Locating weapons of mass destruction.
There were no such things, thus, the mission could not have been declared accomplished, but as I have found to be true, anything said with enough authority becomes fact.
What has been accomplished is mission creep, which is how this whole thing has morphed into "liberating Iraq," and all that crap.
As I recall, Sen. Kennedy was the only one with the balls to call it just that.
Ted Kennedy is a perfect example of why I am thankful that we never tied ourselves up with term limits.
Posted by: Patti M. at March 17, 2006 10:38 AMWill the righties ever return to this reality? Or will it be respun until the day I die?
Posted by: Chuck S. at March 17, 2006 12:34 PM