Marc Perkel Rantz

Bush lies about "mission accomplished" banner

Bush Disavows Mission Accomplished Banner - Link

WASHINGTON - Six months after he spoke on an aircraft carrier deck under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," President Bush (news - web sites) disavowed any connection with the war message.

The phrase has been mocked many times since Bush's carrier speech as criticism has mounted over the failed search for weapons of mass destruction and the continuing violence in Iraq (news - web sites).

When it was brought up again Tuesday at a news conference, Bush said, "The `Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished."

"I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff — they weren't that ingenious, by the way."

That explanation hadn't surfaced during months of questions to White House officials about proclaiming the mission in Iraq successful while violence continued.

The president's appearance on the Abraham Lincoln, which was returning home after service in the Persian Gulf, included his dramatic and much-publicized landing on the ship's deck.

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But a Whitehouse.gov web page tells a different story.

I am happy to see you, an so are the long-suffering people of Iraq. America sent you on a mission to remove a grave threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been accomplished. (Applause.)

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It turns out that the Whitehose DID have the sign made and now Bush has caught lying about it. So - not only is the mission not accomplished - but Bush is trying to rewrite history, on the 777th day that Bin Laden is still at large.

Posted by marc at October 28, 2003 09:07 PM | TrackBack