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MISSION HOPELESSLY BUNGLED
War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost. : Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
It is three years today that George W Bush told the American public, standing in front of a giant Mission Accomplished Banner, " that major combat operations have ended in Iraq . "
Now, 2261 deaths later, the United States is bogged down in a civil war that could very well lead to the Lebanonization of Iraq.
We have lost the war, lost our integrity and indelibly lost the moral high ground we once enjoyed throughout the world . Everyone has lost in this Cheney,Rumsfeld,Bush neocon pipedream.
It's time to hold these clowns accountable for the quagmire that they alone created !
It's also time for a three year review of the mindboggling facts of this fiasco ~ and no one is better at that than the Center for American Progress.
Allen L Roland
Three Years After 'Mission Accomplished'
by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney
Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin
May 1st, 2006
Today marks three years since President Bush memorably flew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and stood before a banner declaring "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. Bush told the American public that day, "Major combat operations have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Three years later, each day brings forth tragic news that more American soldiers have lost their lives in major combat operations. For example, this weekend, the Department of Defense announced that Marine Lance Cpls. Michael Ford and Aaron Simons and Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Ramseyer died while engaged in "combat operations" in al Anbar province in Iraq. The numbers tell the story of a war that has been deceptively led and grossly mismanaged from the very beginning. 2,400 soldiers have died since the beginning of the war, 2,261 of which have occurred since "Mission Accomplished." In April 2003, the Bush administration was confronting cost estimates of $20 billion a year for Iraq. Today, the cost is approximated at $320 billion for the war effort. Three years ago, 75 percent of the American public approved of Bush's handling of Iraq; now, only 37 percent do. As the administration has desperately clung to its failing strategy, a pair of government reports indicate that Iraq has become a terror factory and has made the entire world less safe. American Progress has a plan to change course.
THE UNENDING MISSION IN IRAQ:
In three years, the mission of U.S. soldiers in Iraq has shifted remarkably. Prior to the war, Bush stated, "Our mission is clear in Iraq. Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament. ... And our mission won't change." The mission was then declared "complete" in May 2003. But as the loss of American lives has steadily accelerated, our mission in Iraq has been extended and morphed to include standing up an Iraqi army and establishing an Iraq that is "free and self-governing and democratic." The rationale Bush used to invade Iraq was to warn the American public about a possible scenario where Iraq could become a training ground for terrorists. In November 2002, Bush said, "[I]magine a terrorist network with Iraq as an arsenal and as a training ground..." The American public no longer has to imagine. The State Department reports that Iraq is now a terror haven. Bush himself now concedes that Iraq is the "central front in the war on terror" and that the best way to honor the sacrifice of the fallen troops is "by completing [the] mission."
WHAT THEY KNEW:
More and more evidence continues to come out indicating that the Bush administration deceptively led the nation into war. Most recently, the CIA's former top official in Europe, Tyler Drumheller, revealed that Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and others were told in a meeting in the fall of 2002 that a high-level intelligence source within Saddam Hussein's inner circle confirmed that Iraq did not have an active program for weapons of mass destruction. Drumheller argues that the evidence was ignored because the administration was only "looking for intelligence to fit into the policy" of regime change in Iraq. Drumheller's revelation confirms the British government account in the Downing Street Memo: "The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." Despite the reams of evidence suggesting that the administration misled the nation into war, no authoritative investigation into what the administration knew has been completed. Senate Intelligence Committee (a.k.a. Senate Cover-Up Committee) Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced recently that he will further delay a probe into the administration's handling of pre-war intelligence.
MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED ON RECONSTRUCTING IRAQ:
While standing aboard the aircraft carrier on May 1, Bush pledged, "We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools." But this weekend, the New York Times reported that a $243 million program led by the Army Corps of Engineers to build 150 health care clinics has "in some cases produced little more than empty shells of crumbling concrete and shattered bricks cemented together into uneven walls." Moreover, "power blackouts remain a constant frustration. Only 19 percent of Iraqis today have working sewer connections, down from 24 percent before the war, according to U.S. government figures." Inspector General Stuart Bowen said, "The U.S. relief and reconstruction effort will accomplish less than originally planned. ... Fewer projects will be completed than expected," and the shortfalls "have the cumulative effect of slowing improvement in the daily lives of Iraqis." While most Iraq reconstruction projects are well behind schedule, there's one reconstruction effort that's right on schedule: the $592 million U.S. embassy, which will be the size of about 80 football fields. Commenting on the irony of the rebuilding progress, Frank Rich writes, "Symbolically enough, [the U.S. embassy] will have its own water-treatment plant and power generator to provide the basic services that we still have not restored to pre-invasion levels for the poor unwashed Iraqis beyond the American bunker."
STILL NO ACCOUNTABILITY:
This weekend, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview on British ITV television, "I made the case to General Franks and Secretary Rumsfeld before the president that I was not sure we had enough troops" going into Iraq. The criticism recalls the complaints of former Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer who said his requests for more troops were ignored. That President Bush failed to send in enough troops to secure post-war Iraq has now become conventional wisdom, yet the Bush faithful still cannot acknowledge it. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said recently, "[T]he implication that there was something wrong with the war plan is amusing." Bush and Rice continue to duck responsibility by pinning any blame on military commanders. Bush has refused to hold any of the key architects of the Iraq war accountable for their numerous failures. Despite the calls from at least eight former high-ranking military generals, Rumsfeld continues to exert his incompetent control over the Pentagon and the Iraq war.
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