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Kerry, Bush spar over 'Mission accomplished'
The Washington Post ^ | September 27, 2004 | Lois Romano and Mike Allen

Posted on 09/26/2004 8:40:30 PM PDT by justaboutanybody

MADISON, WIS. -- Sen. John Kerry excoriated President Bush on Sunday for saying that he had no regrets about his declaration more than a year ago that the mission in Iraq was accomplished, when the country continues to be in a state of war.

"I will never be a president who just says, 'Mission accomplished.' I will get the mission accomplished," Kerry told a couple of hundred supporters who greeted him in Madison before he went to a Spring Green resort to prepare for a presidential debate Thursday.

Kerry was referring to an interview Bush gave Bill O'Reilly of Fox News in which O'Reilly asked Bush if he would still do the carrier landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath the "Mission Accomplished" banners. At the time, 17 months ago, Bush had referred to Iraq as a "victory" and declared an end to major combat there.

"Absolutely," the president replied in the interview, to air on today's "O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly, apparently surprised, replied, "You would?"

"Of course," Bush said. "I'm saying to the troops, on this carrier and elsewhere, 'Thanks for serving America.' Absolutely. And by the way, those sailors and airmen loved seeing the commander in chief. ... You bet I'd do it again."

In Madison, Kerry held a rally on the tarmac and ridiculed Bush for "insisting that the situation [in Iraq] is improving, that freedom is on the march. ... The president continues to live in a fantasy world of spin."

Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, also mocked Bush on Sunday, telling 1,500 raucous supporters in Lewiston, Maine, that "these people are so out of touch."

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; kerry; missionaccomplished
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To: Polybius

Now that is WICKEDLY hilarious!!


41 posted on 09/26/2004 9:14:26 PM PDT by Zellenn
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To: FL_engineer

I think the poser next to Kerry is drinking a Zima with a straw, served in a mug. Not that there's anything wrong with that.....LOL

42 posted on 09/26/2004 9:16:42 PM PDT by LisaMalia (In Memory of Sgt. James W."Billy" Lunsford..KIA 11-29-69 Binh Dinh S. Vietnam)
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To: FL_engineer

That looks more like a poluted lemonaide than a beer & I don't think Mount Horeb is like Madison. Kerry showed up at the bar to watch the Packer game with some of the locals.


43 posted on 09/26/2004 9:17:10 PM PDT by GoLightly (If it doesn't kill ya, it makes ya stronger.)
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To: justaboutanybody

Kerry--speaking to "a couple of hundred"; Edwards speaking to a group "of 1500". Those numbers say a whole lot!!


44 posted on 09/26/2004 9:18:29 PM PDT by Zellenn
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To: ConservativeMan55

What is with the yellow bracelet Kerry has been wearing lately?


45 posted on 09/26/2004 9:18:45 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day ("We showed weakness, and weak people are beaten."--Putin / "A more sensitive war on terror." --Kerry)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

It's a Lance Armstrong braclet. You buy one and the money goes to cancer research. I've seen a ton of people wearing them.


46 posted on 09/26/2004 9:20:24 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
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To: ConservativeMan55

Who drinks beer with a straw? I guess Kerry is getting lonely for Edwards now, since Teresa is probably out looking for a real man again.


47 posted on 09/26/2004 9:21:15 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (CBS's story is sinking faster than Uncle Ted's Oldsmobile.)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

I think it's a Lance Armstrong cancer survivor foundation bracelet.


48 posted on 09/26/2004 9:24:09 PM PDT by FairOpinion (FIGHT TERRORISM! VOTE BUSH/CHENEY 2004.)
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To: RoseofTexas
Outta curiosity,...WHEN is W gonna use his FAMOUS and quite delicious photo of him in the flight suit for a campaign ad? The flight photo would bring tons of women to the voting booth... ;]!

I've seen our President three times in the last month here in Ohio, and my fiance and I got great pictures every time. The last time, we had seats right behind the stage. As gorgeous as GW is, the pics I got from another angle were well worth seeing, and all the women in my family enjoyed them immensely!

No disrespect intended, just had to share that with all the women here!

49 posted on 09/26/2004 9:28:47 PM PDT by LisaMalia (In Memory of Sgt. James W."Billy" Lunsford..KIA 11-29-69 Binh Dinh S. Vietnam)
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To: justaboutanybody

I think people should reread Bush's speech on May 1, 2003 on the USS Abraham Lincoln. He never said that the mission was accomplished. He said there is much work ahead.
He declared major combat operations over, which were indeed over.


President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/iraq/20030501-15.html

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're 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. (Applause.)

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq. (Applause.)

Our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many nations, and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend the homeland. And we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike. (Applause.)

The war on terror is not over; yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory. (Applause.)


50 posted on 09/26/2004 9:30:00 PM PDT by FairOpinion (FIGHT TERRORISM! VOTE BUSH/CHENEY 2004.)
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To: GoLightly

"Kerry showed up at the bar to watch the Packer game with some of the locals."

Today??????????? Against the Colts? HA! HA! HA!


Colts fan checkin' in!


51 posted on 09/26/2004 9:35:04 PM PDT by SendShaqtoIraq
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To: West Coast Conservative; FairOpinion

Ah. I didn't know that.

I thought he wore it because it matched his yellow daisy zipper ornament.


52 posted on 09/26/2004 9:35:13 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day ("We showed weakness, and weak people are beaten."--Putin / "A more sensitive war on terror." --Kerry)
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To: SendShaqtoIraq

That would be the one.


53 posted on 09/26/2004 9:38:04 PM PDT by GoLightly (If it doesn't kill ya, it makes ya stronger.)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

Someone else pointed it out on another post and I checked:

http://www.laf.org/


54 posted on 09/26/2004 9:39:30 PM PDT by FairOpinion (FIGHT TERRORISM! VOTE BUSH/CHENEY 2004.)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

And speaking of cancer -- why isn't Kerry releasing his medical records? It is very pertinent to the presidential election.


55 posted on 09/26/2004 9:40:38 PM PDT by FairOpinion (FIGHT TERRORISM! VOTE BUSH/CHENEY 2004.)
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To: justaboutanybody
Hey, Kerry boy...read "American Soldier" by General Tommy Franks. Me thinks JFK is behind in his reading. Quelle surprise.
56 posted on 09/26/2004 9:44:29 PM PDT by Chgogal
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub

This can't be. kerry said we're going it alone, and it's all Bush's fault.


57 posted on 09/26/2004 9:53:54 PM PDT by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: justaboutanybody
. . . O'Reilly asked Bush if he would still do the carrier landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath the "Mission Accomplished" banners. . .

The way I understood it, the banner was up there because the mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln was accomplished, and it was returning to its home port.

58 posted on 09/26/2004 9:56:26 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Comrade Hillary - 6/28/04)
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To: commish

59 posted on 09/26/2004 9:58:49 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Comrade Hillary - 6/28/04)
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To: justaboutanybody
The war in Iraq has many phases with many missions, the defeat of their army being phase/mission number one. Bush was perfectly right to declare "mission accomplished" after the impressive victory over the organized Iraqi military.

The next phase is to defeat the Saddam hangers on and the terrorist die hards and set up a democratic Iraqi government. This mission is ongoing and difficult, just as President Bush said after the fall of Saddam's army. I recall he said something like "the road ahead is a difficult one....". So let Kerry say what he wants about this topic... Bush only needs to remind Kerry of the FACTS to defeat his lies.

Maybe Bush could even bring up Boston's embarrassingly s-l-o-w and ridiculously expensive "Big Dig", and tell the American people that Kerry cannot even oversee a construction project in his own city, let alone finish the job of the War on Terror.

60 posted on 09/26/2004 10:00:54 PM PDT by TheCrusader ("the frenzy of the Mohammedans has devastated the churches of God" Pope Urban II (c 1097 a.d.))
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