"Mission Accomplished" May 1, 2003

"Mission Accomplished" was the slogan that appeared on a banner behind President George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, as he gave a speech aboard the USS Lincoln declaring that "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

The events of the day, which featured Bush landing in a fighter jet on the deck of the aircraft carrier, were praised at the time but have come to be regarded since as an expensive and embarrassing publicity stunt and a premature declaration of victory in a war that had only begun.


 * "Moments after the landing, the president, wearing a green flight suit and holding a white helmet, got off the plane, saluted those on the flight deck and shook hands with them. Above him, the tower was adorned with a big sign that read, 'Mission Accomplished'," CNN reported May 1, 2003.

Photo-Op Cropped
On November 6, 2006, the vigilant mmcintee posted a video clip entitled "White House Caught Doctoring 'Mission Accomplished' Video" on YouTube. The video takes the viewer step-by-step through the process of discovering that the White House has, indeed, rewritten history, so to speak. The White House news link to the altered video to which mmcintee refers can be found here.

Compare the photo above to the cropped version provided on the page by the White House. Additionally, the White House photo gallery for May 1, 2003 no longer includes the "Mission Accomplished" frame. The previous news link expired, but mmcintee's video can still be seen here.

Fortunately, the image has not been webscrubbed and numerous links to the original photo can be found by conducting internet searches:
 * Google: images/articles
 * Yahoo!: images/articles

May 1, 2006
"'We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools,' Mr. Bush said on that glorious day. Three years later we know, courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers, that our corrupt, Enron-like Iraq reconstruction effort has yielded at most 20 of those 142 promised hospitals. But we did build a palace for ourselves. The only building project on time and on budget, USA Today reported, is a $592 million embassy complex in the Green Zone on acreage the size of 80 football fields. Symbolically enough, it 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," Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times.

David Swanson of After Downing Street reported April 18, 2006:


 * "May 1 marks three years since George W. Bush staged his 'Mission Accomplished' aircraft landing in San Diego Harbor and 'delivered good news to the men and women who fought in the cause of freedom: their mission is complete and major combat operations in Iraq have ended.' Nothing ended. The violence since has not just been sporadic and small scale. The U.S. has been demolishing dozens of entire cities and towns.
 * "As of April 27, at 3:15 p.m. EST - 2,393 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
 * "The count of US wounded is around seven times that number, and Iraqi civilian deaths are officially between 34,000 and 39,000, and actually between 200,000 and 300,000.
 * "The State Department's annual terrorism report finds that Iraq has become a safe haven for terrorists and has attracted a 'foreign fighter pipeline'."
 * "Meanwhile, a National Counterterrorism Threat Center report finds that terrorist incidents and deaths more than doubled in 2005."

General

 * "Mission Accomplished" in the dKosopedia.
 * "Mission Accomplished" in the Wikipedia.

2003

 * News Release: "President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended," Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California, and Remarks by the President in Photo Opportunity, Navigation Deck, USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003.
 * Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California", May 1, 2003. (Video).
 * "Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California", May 1, 2003. (Audio).
 * White House Photo Gallery for the week of April 26- May 2, 2003:
 * "Bush approached the flight deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in a S-3B Viking jet."
 * "Bush gives the thumbs-up sign as he meets with flight crews on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln."
 * Bush in full military flight suit aboard U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.


 * "Commander in Chief lands on USS Lincoln," CNN, May 1, 2003.
 * Kathleen T. Rhem, "Aboard Lincoln, President Bush Proclaims End to Major Combat Ops in Iraq," American Forces Press Service, May 2, 2003.
 * Toby Harnden, "Bush takes a Top Gun stance on US carrier," The Telegraph (UK), May 3, 2003.
 * Ari Fleischer, News Release: Press Briefing, White House, The James S. Brady Briefing Room, July 1, 2003: "Mission Accomplished".
 * "Mission Not Accomplished," TIME, October 6, 2003; posted September 28, 2003.
 * "Situation Report on Iraq," PBS Online NewsHour, October 28, 2003.
 * Dana Bash, "White House pressed on 'mission accomplished' sign. Navy suggested it, White House made it, both sides say," CNN, October 29, 2003.
 * "'Mission Accomplished' Whodunit," CBS News/Associated Press, October 29, 2003.
 * "Bush Remarks on 'Mission Accomplished' Banner Embarrass White House," Agence France Press (Common Dreams), October 30, 2003.
 * "Aircraft Carrier Politics," CBS News, November 11, 2003: Photo: "Shot aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln with 'Mission Accomplished' banner" (Click to enlarge).

2004

 * Senator Robert C. Byrd, "Mission Not Accomplished," U.S. Senate Floor Remarks, April 29, 2004 (Common Dreams).
 * Editorial: "Mission Unaccomplished," The Nation, April 29, 2004 (May 17, 2004 issue).
 * Peter Grier and Faye Bowers, "A year later, mission still not accomplished. Bush's Iraq speech on the USS Lincoln didn't foreshadow escalating insurgency in 2004," Christian Science Monitor, April 30, 2004.
 * Jill Zuckman, "`Mission Accomplished': 1 year later," Chicago Tribune, April 30, 2004.
 * Saul B. Wilen, "Iraq: Mission Impossible?" Enter Stage Right, May 31, 2004.
 * William F. Jasper, "Mission accomplished? President Bush's war on Iraq has opened the U.S. to new dangers, weakened our defenses, and provided a huge lift to the UN and advocates of world government," The New American (FindArticles.com), June 2004.

2005

 * Media Release: "Mission accomplished? The second anniversary of the 'end' of the Iraq war," Uninews/University of Melbourne (Australia), April 28, 2005.
 * Robert Fisk, "America's shame, two years on from 'Mission Accomplished'," robert-fisk.com, May 8, 2005.
 * Saul Landau, "Iraq is Broken. Mission Accomplished," CounterPunch, July 9/10, 2005.
 * Faiz Shakir, "From 'Mission Accomplished' to 'Tough Days Ahead'," Think Progress, November 30, 2005.
 * Molly Ivins, "Another mission accomplished," The Free Press, December 15, 2005.

2006

 * "'The Final Word Is Hooray!' Remembering the Iraq War's Pollyanna pundits," FAIR, March 15, 2006.
 * Murray Waas, "Insulating Bush," National Journal, March 30, 2006.
 * David Swanson, "May Day, Memo Day, Mission Accomplished Day," Los Angeles Chronicle, April 15, 2006.
 * Martin Schram, "Anniversary of a mission unaccomplished," Scripps Howard News Service, April 18, 2006.
 * Tom Engelhardt, "History ambushes the Bush administration," Asia Times, April 19, 2006.
 * Ian Williams, "Still No Mission Accomplished," AlterNet, April 27, 2006: "Was it oil? Empire? Human rights? The Israel Lobby? Three years later, there's no clear reason why we invaded Iraq, much less any idea how we'll get out."
 * Mark Tran, "The price of mission creep," Guardian Unlimited Blog (UK), April 27, 2006.
 * "Mission Accomplished: A look back at the media's fawning coverage of Bush's premature declaration of victory in Iraq," Media Matters for America, April 27, 2006.
 * David Swanson, "Mission Accomplished, May 1, Three Years On," OpEdNews, April 28, 2006.
 * Jamison Foser, "'Mission Accomplished' Retrospective," Media Matters for America, April 28, 2006.
 * David Swanson, "Today Is Mission Accomplished Day," After Downing Street, April 28, 2006; OpEdNews, April 30, 2006.
 * Joe Stener, "Three years after The 'Mission Accomplished' Speech," Free Republic, April 28, 2006.
 * "Frank Rich: Downing Street memo 'proved accurate'," The Raw Story, April 29, 2006. Excerpts from Rich's NYT column.
 * Greg Mitchell, "Back in the Days of 'Mission Accomplished'," April 30, 2006.
 * Cindy Sheehan, "Mission Accomplished Day," BuzzFlash, April 30, 2006.
 * Lee Keath and Sally Buzbee, "Three years after `Mission Accomplished,' Iraq still struggles," Associated Press (LA Daily News.com), April 30, 2006.
 * Felicity Arbuthnot, "Mission Accomplished," uruknet.info, April 30, 2006: "'Mission accomplished', declared by George W. Bush on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1st 2003 may prove the be the Mother of all Blunders."
 * T.F. Kelley, Opinion: "An anniversary best not forgotten," Daily News Transcript, May 1, 2006.
 * Daniel McGrory, "Militias steal new recruits with better pay and perks. Iraq'a militias are growing in strength, attracting many recruits from the US-run police academy," Times Online (UK), May 1, 2006.
 * "Poll: Vast majority believes Iraq mission not accomplished. U.S. marks third anniversary since 'Mission Accomplished' speech," CNN, May 1, 2006. re Bush administration approval ratings
 * "What Iraqis Think: Mission Botched," Think Progress, May 1, 2006.

2007

 * Tell Us the Mission.org. See video link.
 * "'Mission Accomplished' By The Numbers," Think Progress, May 1, 2007.
 * Dan Froomkin, "Four Years After 'Mission Accomplished'," White House Watch Blog/Washington Post, May 1, 2007.
 * Greg Mitchell, "Back in the Days of 'Mission Accomplished': How One Paper Covered Bush Declaration Four Years Ago," Editor & Publisher, May 1, 2007.
 * Tom Engelhardt, "Mission Unaccomplished," The Nation, May 1, 2007.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush regime
 * civil war in Iraq
 * Exit Strategy from Iraq
 * Georgeland
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom
 * The secret Downing Street memo, July 23, 2002