Posted on 05/03/2008 11:10:20 AM PDT by The_Republican
President Bush will never live down “Mission Accomplished” — and should not. When the White House’s spinners spun that claim five years ago (remember the aircraft carrier?), it seemed cocky and premature. As Mr. Bush continues his $526 billion war-without-end in Iraq, it seems stunningly deceitful.
The only mission that needs to be accomplished is an orderly exit from Iraq, and Mr. Bush is no closer to acknowledging that reality. Neither is Senator John McCain. All Congress seems capable of is hand-wringing.
So it is up to Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton to revive the national debate on Iraq — and up the pressure on the White House. While it is clear that Mr. Bush has no intention of coming up with an exit strategy, there are things he could do to give his successor a better chance at containing the chaos after American troops leave.
A rational debate must first recognize that Iraq is still a very dangerous place. An increase in American forces last year initially produced a steep decline in insurgent attacks. But attacks in April killed more than 50 United States troops — the highest death toll for a single month since last September.
Americans also need a full accounting of the American-financed and American-led military training programs in Iraq, and a better explanation of why Iraqi forces remain so weak. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s decision to finally challenge some Shiite militias was a good thing, but it exposed how the Iraqi Army remains unprepared — even now — to fight by itself.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bwahaha! Yeah NYT, I totally believe that your sympathies are with Maliki and not with Sadr.../s
First thing that the author should do is identify what was the actual mission going into Iraq and he or she would find that the mission was indeed accomplished.
Our troops might be fighting in the same battle field now but they are also fighting an entirely different enemy.
As soon as the terrorists entered into Iraq got into the fight, it is an entirely different mission all together. It had become an extension of the war on terrorists and not Iraq.
I wonder how the author was so STUPID that he or she missed that part.
Dishonest press. They also ignore the fact there was peace and elections until Iran jumped in with Syria and started the insurgency in connection with Al Quada in 2005.
Disgusting.
But I must say that, as a political infighter, Bush is a moron.
It was known from the beginning that that banner was put up by the crew of the carrier to celebrate their return to the U.S. after a tour of active duty. They were celebrating their accomplishments and their return. And some photographer caught Bush standing in front of it—whether a Bush propagandist or a leftist stringer, I don’t know.
In any case, why on earth has Bush let this false charge fester for so many years without ever answering it? It seems to be part of a pattern of letting his enemies define everything in their terms. They constantly lie, and he constantly stands there with his mouth open and lets them to it.
The NYT hates this country and it’s military. But that’s okay, I hate the NYT and it’s Commie bunch of loonies. They can cheer on their Al Qaeda pals all they want. I’m going to continue cheering for the U.S. military.
The "Mission Accomplished" sign was put up by the crew of the aircraft carrier that had successfully accomplished their assigned mission and was steaming home.
The writers at the New York Times, like all other liberals that have never served a single day in the military, seem to have no clue about the difference between what a "mission" is and what a "war" is.
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Webster's Dictionary -
Mission:
Etymology: New Latin, Medieval Latin, & Latin; New Latin mission-, missio religious mission, from Medieval Latin, task assigned, from Latin, act of sending, from mittere to send
: a specific task with which a person or a group is charged (1): a definite military, naval, or aerospace task (a bombing mission) (a space mission)
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Liberals have successfully managed to twist the words “Major Combat Operations”.......
I believe War of insurgency is actually a Minor war and I don’t think W applied that we have no more problems anymore.......the second phase was beginning.....however, demagogues have twisted that concept into something else.
Same with McCain, he was saying we may have to maintain presence in Iraq for 100 years as we have done in other places where we fought Major Wars.....however, Liberals have twisted those words into making it sound that we would fight 100 years of war with full casualties and no possibililty of peace.
Republican Leaders should SCOLD the Dems for playing shameless Patriotic with something as important as WOT.
And an orderly exit comes after victory??? Is that in there anywhere?? Oops. This is the NYTIMES. My boo-boo.
You are right. Bush has lost the political war and handing this country over to the democrats, which he seems bound to do, is much more dangerous than anything going on in Iraq. No matter what, politics count.
**sigh**
Bush nor the Whitehouse ver said "Mission Accomplished." This is what Bush said on that day:
"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 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."
FReepers I need not tell you this but we all know that journalism by the MSM is flat out dead!
The NYT admits that our pulling out of Iraq will result in chaos yet they insist that is the only strategy they will accept. Rather than continue the difficult but necessary progress to an orderly and independent Iraq they would rather have the country degenerate into chaos and all out war from which another Hussein could arise.
I love this pic!!! You present the greatest satire!!!!!
Despite all the faux "failures" of the Bush administration that the Left likes to enumerate, his greatest failing, IMHO, is exactly what you describe. He simply doesn't get that politics is war to the Democrats, and you have to win or they will destroy you. He was lucky not to have been impeached by those weasels, and he's not out of the woods yet.
Thank you Forgotten FReeper.
How could forget we when you keep reminding us.
Hey, remember Somalia? "Mission accomplished," then?
An assumption based on a conclusion based on a lie.
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