"Mission Accomplished". Not!

Tomorrow, Sunday, marks the 8th anniversary of the now infamous statement by George Bush that "Mission Accomplished" had been achieved in Iraq. Remember all the hype surrounding the nonsense statement? Standing on the deck of a warship, Bush dressed in air force gear, etc. etc.

The Nation reviews the statement - and no less importantly, what some of the so-called pundits said at the time.

"In my favorite antiwar song of this war, "Shock and Awe," Neil Young moaned: "Back in the days of Mission Accomplished/ our chief was landing on the deck/ The sun was setting/ behind a golden photo op." But as Neil added elsewhere: "History is a cruel judge of overconfidence."

Nowhere can we see this more clearly than in the media coverage of the event. Even today, nearly eight years later, the often "overconfident" reporting from Baghdad and Kabul sometimes takes your breath away. At least two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq this week so far, and over 45,000 or our troops remain there today. (For a full accounting of costs of all sorts, go here.) . So let's return to the days of Mission Accomplished...."

Continue reading, here.

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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