Democrats Weigh in on 'Mission Accomplished'
Today, the president is vetoing a war funding bill that sets timetables for
withdrawing U.S. troops. For some Democratic presidential candidates, the
anniversary was a time to emphasize their opposition to the war. “Four years
after President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared ‘Mission
Accomplished,’ we are still in a war where more than one hundred American
service members have died in just the month of April,” Sen. Barack Obama said in
a statement. “We grieve for them today and urge the President to avoid making
another tragic mistake by signing the bill that will end this war and bring our
troops home.”Sen. Hillary Clinton called the speech “one of the most shameful episodes in American history. Never before in our history has a President said ‘mission accomplished’ when the mission had barely begun. Never before has a president pulled a political stunt when so many American lives were and remain in harm’s way.”
And former Sen. John Edwards said that Bush’s “disastrous mismanagement of the war has left our troops in harm’s way and made Iraq a breeding ground for terrorists.”
In the 2004 speech, Bush never actually uttered the words “mission
accomplished,” but did say the broader war on terrorism was not yet
over “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.” (emphasis mine)
The banner was made for the USS Abraham's successful mission. It was not made for the President's speech, but why would Democrats let facts get in the way of a good dig at the president.
I'm sure you all have seen this noted in the press, eh?
