Mission Accomplished +5!

5 years ago, Bush landed on the carrier USS Lincoln to give the infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech about Iraq. Ironically, the USS Lincoln (CVN 72) is now back in the Persian Gulf conducting operations as a diplomatic lever against Iran, in which tensions have increased due to our presence in Iraq. A lot can be said about the boldly ignorant proclamation of "Mission Accomplished" when the war still goes on in Iraq 5 years later. Conventional wisdom views it as an incredibly arrogant, chest-pounding statement, since the Bush administration had bunk intelligence on WMD, little to no plans to deal with the insurgency of Iraq, and plans for reconstruction under Paul Bremer were horrendous. I tend to view the 2003 occasion the same way, but I support the implementation of COIN and hope for an expeditious stabilization of Iraq (what else can I do...we are already in this war).

However, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino views "Mission Accomplished" as just another way to hurt the neo-con PR machine. Ever self-centered, she is only focused on ramifications in American media and how it might make her boss look bad. This cuts to the heart of the problem of this administration: they are in charge of the biggest military ever and only wish to utilize it for their own narrow, short-sighted agenda. May we never elect people like this again...