White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said at the time. "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on." The "Mission Accomplished" banner was prominently displayed above him — a move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy.

After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the "Mission Accomplished" phrase referred to the carrier's crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the "Mission Accomplished" message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship's crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_mission_accomplished_1

---

Watch Dana Perino here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x125773

Thanks to Professor Plum for posting. :)

And another anniversary pic

[Horse with no Name]

1. That rat bastard has paid NOTHING for his misadventures

I don't care what the lapdog press says.

[jtt]

16. Who cares about banner error?

This is so several orders of magnitude behind what this administration is guilty of. Why do we even waste time on this. 6 trillion dollars is going poof this year because of economic mismanagement, Iraq and Afghanistan recently are reconfirming themselves as failures, Iraq still should have never happened, Oil, food, and... well... everything is a disaster and somehow admitting a banner error is supposed to help.

This is just another swindle to get flight suit crotch shot into the news and detract from economic discussion -- not to even mention the Cost in Lives and treasure of the Iraq debacle.

Distract and evade. Hey what did Reverend Wright say today!!!(sic)

[saigon68]

21. "Bring Em On" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

How about that saying sports fans

I've been plastering that quote here for 5 1/2 years now

What an asswipe of a CHIMPANZEE

[Malva Zebrina]

17. It's more like crimes than misadventures

It is astounding and unbelievable to me that he has been allowed to go umpunished for his murderous crimes. This sets a precedent that Nancy Pelosi should never have allowed. Think of it. Some 4050 American lives snuffed out because of his lies. Some forty of them in the past month, yet few are aware of this fact, and almost none know their names--they are a number and they are wiped out from all the minds of the American people. They simply were there once and now, are not and NO ONE seems to care or even want to care. Feh

[tbyg52]

20. That was my first thought

He still does whatever the hell he wants to and has the nerve to berate Congress. WHAT "price"?????? :grr:

[Demeter]

31. Not Yet. Anyway! Where There's Life, There's Hope of Retribution!

and I hope it's soon. I've only got 50 years left, roughly.

[Hailtothechimp]

2. "Like tearing down the goalposts at halftime."

I forget who said this, but they sure had it right.

[crimsonblue]

29. It's more than that...

It's like having a 5 yr draft up the gameplan and having a bunch of 25 yr olds on the gridiron who had superior skills and abilities, and got way ahead by sheer strength. Then at halftime, the 5 yr old shits their pants, the team decides to stand on the field and try and run unscripted plays with no huddle, all the while bombs are going off and the other team is trying to saw off their legs. The other team slowly dwindles down their numbers until all that is left is the 5 yr old on the sideline looking at all the shit in their pants.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

3. wow - I guess the repubs are getting

serious about the upcoming election.

[tanyev]

4. LOL! "mission accomplished for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission"

If only the GOP donor company who made the banner hadn't been charging us by the inch. Darn their greedy hides!

[MaineDem]

12. At one point didn't they say the sailors put it up themselves?

They blamed it ont he sailors saying the WH didn't have anything to do with it.

I really hate these people. And I don't say that lightly.

[Bozita]

13. Yes. Made it and put it up.

[Ian David]

15. They claimed the carrier was sucked through a black hole to December 7, 1941...

and when the carrier returned back to present time, it somehow had that banner on it.

[DemocratInSoCal]

5. They're So Fucking Full Of Shit!!!

I'm preaching to the choir, but is there a SINGLE GOD DAMNED THING that these people don't LIE & SPIN about?

I wake up daily and wonder what it would be like to be part of the 28% of Amerikans who believe the CRAP this administration spews on a minute by minute basis. Actually, our secretary, a MORON, is one of them, which is why we Never discuss politics. I don't believe in an intellectual battle with someone who is unarmed.

[mcollier]

8. I feel you D...

Now they can admit these ==>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Y1qcma0Q4"> Fubar policies

[Bozita]

6. President Bush has paid a price? He's paid no price.

He's changed the lives of hundreds of millions, and not for the better.

I'm just wondering if he's going to pre-pardon himself as he leaves office.

I'm betting that before every game of Monopoly, he swiped all of the "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards.

[Doctor_J]

7. Another great campaing ad for our nominee

8 years of * lowlights to pick from. Gonna be big fun.

[proust78]

9. they'll need to dust off the banner when gas hits $4.00 nationally

Then Bushie's real mission will have been accomplished.

[VP505]

10. I think we are seeing an attempt to neutralize

any use of that banner lie from now to November. They are trying to get ahead of it with their claim Bu$h has paid a price, implying that now its time to STFU about it.

[MaineDem]

11. But we can never let it be forgotten

That last pic of him in the flight suit talking to a legitimate pilot really gets my blood boiling.

[Ian David]

14. They lied. It was printed in The White House printshop. n/t

[gulliver]

22. Lots of ships crew members might think to ask the WH for the banner.

I'm sure there are lots of crew members who asked the White House for that banner. The idea could occur to anyone.

"What could we do for the President's visit?" asked one crew member.

"I know," said another. "We could put a giant banner on the ship that says 'Mission Accomplished'!"

"Great idea! If only we had some way to create a banner like that... Wait! Let's ask the White House if they might be able to make one!"

I'm sure there was some kind of conversation like that aboard the Lincoln. Some crew member then asked the White House for the banner. Simple.

But I sure would like to know the name of the crew member who did the asking and who they asked. That would kind of settle it.

[kskiska]

33. It had the same look and font as the other backgrounds

they began using early on, created by Scott Sforza.

(snip)

The most elaborate - and criticized - White House event so far was Mr. Bush's speech aboard the Abraham Lincoln announcing the end of major combat in Iraq. White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the idea, and that Mr. Sforza embedded himself on the carrier to make preparations days before Mr. Bush's landing in a flight suit and his early evening speech.

Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.

"If you looked at the TV picture, you saw there was flattering light on his left cheek and slight shadowing on his right," Mr. King said. "It looked great."

more…
http://www.frankwbaker.com/bush_image.htm

[jeff30997]

18. Here's a never published picture of that "event":

[Th1onein]

24. You forgot the chickenhawk's codpiece!

Do those suits come with rolled up socks?

[Bozita]

19. How about the carrier's big circle route? They delayed arrival in SD for a whole day.

All to feed the ego of a war criminal.

[KansDem]

23. This ranks second in the "So Full of Shit" category...

Right behind the "Bush didn't do anything on 9/11 when told America was under attack because he didn't want to scare the children" excuse...

[w8liftinglady]

25. Ummm..the internet is a great thing..from 2003

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- What was once viewed as a premier presidential photo op continues to dog President Bush six months after he landed on an aircraft carrier to declare "one victory" in the war on terrorism and an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

Attention turned Tuesday to a giant "Mission Accomplished" sign that stood behind Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when he gave the speech May 1.

The president told reporters the sign was put up by the Navy, not the White House.

[w8liftinglady]

27. and the speech from whitehouse.gov

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-15.html
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

[sakabatou]

26. So...

they ARE running it backwards?

[Jamastiene]

28. Wonder when he's gonna fess up about that potato

he had stuffed down his flight suit. :eyes:

"White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner"

Duh, it sure took them long enough. If it took them this long to admit fault on just the banner, how long will it take for them to admit the major major major fault of lying to the American people about the reasons for going to war in the first place?

[Lasher]

30. Hey, that certainly was quick, huh?

Took only five years to admit something everyone already knew. Confession's good for the soul, when you have one.

[calimary]

32. And note who asked the question about this - Helen Thomas.

The great lady whose middle name ought to be "where is everybody?" hits another one out of the ballpark.

A little old lady once again outclasses the fanciest and most shamelessly useless and fawning blow-dried and pasturized-process fancy-asses in the Washington Press Corpse.

A MAGNIFICENT little old lady she is. And unfortunately, that's all there is. She's pretty much all we've got.

:patriot:

[orleans]

34. they are such fucking assholes. n/t

[aquarius dawning]

35. White House Admits Fault on Banner

Source: TERENCE HUNT,AP

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said at the time. "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on." The "Mission Accomplished" banner was prominently displayed above him — a move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy.

After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the "Mission Accomplished" phrase referred to the carrier's crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the "Mission Accomplished" message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship's crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.

President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said `mission accomplished' for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday. "And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year."

Read more: http://news.aol.com/story/_a/white-house-admits-fault-on-banner/20080430201509990001

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"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended", uttered by George Bush in front of a ginat banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished", the words that led to the single biggest military blunder in American history.

[TheCowsCameHome]

36. Nice try, Dana. You should be selling magic potions at carnivals

What a total fraud she is.

[glowing]

37. It wasn't a blunder.. its an occupation that continues to drain the money

and future monies away from the US and fill big corps... Mission Accomplished..

[tabasco]

41. Quite correct. Not a blunder whatsoever.

A cravenly calculated war for corporate profits.

We are dealing with war criminals here, not politicians with bad judgment.

[KSinTX]

38. Now THAT's an admission worth waiting for

They blamed it on the crew, low-level WH staffers then aliens before taking this hit. 'Bout time.

[Doctor_J]

39. Are they trying to get out from under all this shit before the GE campaign?

WTF are they doing bringing this up now? When Obama hits the GOP over the head with this in august, will the MSM wave it off with "President Bush has magnanimously apologized for this, like the standup guy everyone knows he is"? This smells bad to me.

[aquarius dawning]

40. It is rather disgusting listening to them lie like that

especially when it's perfectly obvious what the speech and banner were all about at the time. It's bad enough that he showed that kind of poor judgement and leadership in the first place but now they're going to lie about it. These people have no honor or integrity.

[Javaman]

42. Please reread the article, they never once admit fault!!!

big surprise...

" move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy."

they regret this because of the object stupidity, not no fault is admitted.

then they go on to blame someone else...

"After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the "Mission Accomplished" phrase referred to the carrier's crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the "Mission Accomplished" message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship's crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor."

Then goes on to say...

""President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific"

so there you are, it's not their fault, it's someone else's fault, and if moron* had his* way it would have been "more specific". Exactly how "more specific"?

Ideas for other banners?

"mission almost accomplished"?

"mission kind of accomplished"?

"we are on a long fucking ride to hell"?

"bend over america, we are going to screw you!"

"I'm the decider, I'm the commander guy, fuck you!?

Or my personal fav...

"my gift to the oil companies"