White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner
Apr 30, 7:08 PM (ET)
By TERENCE HUNT
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.
Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln 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 "Mission Accomplished" banner was prominently displayed above him - a move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy.
After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the "Mission Accomplished" phrase referred to the carrier's crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the "Mission Accomplished" message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship's crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.
Full story: apnews.excite.com
My comments:
As usual, if the White House admits any kind of fault at all, it's never really quite their fault in the end. I wonder if they actually know the meaning of the term "accountability"?
It is simply not credible for the White House, after having changed it's story several times, to claim that the Mission Accomplished banner had nothing to do with the speech the President was giving that day. Let us remember how often, through the early part of his Presidency, Bush would appear on TV in front of blue backdrops with white lettering that repeated phrases like "protecting the homeland" or "strengthening the economy". There would be one appropriate phrase for each appearance. The man never appeared on television without every square inch of the picture being carefully arranged.
The whole event on that aircraft carrier was very carefully choreographed, from the fly in on a jet plane, to having Bush get out of the jet in his flight suit, to using the ship and the sailors as a backdrop for his message, in which he told America that "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."
They claim that they didn't think consider that some people might think a banner with six foot letters reinforcing that message with the words "Mission Accomplished", carefully positioned so as to appear floating above the President's head throughout his speech, and clearly legible, referred to that Battle of Iraq he was proclaiming victory in. That is not only laughable, it's an insult to the intelligence of Americans.
The President has paid a price for making a mistake? Give me a break. He's paid a price for incredible hubris. And not high enough a price by half.
- Allen |
