Mission Accomplished – Not So Much

Mission Accomplished – Not So Much

May 1, 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. Declaring major combat to be over, Bush proclaimed victory in Iraq for America and its allies. Three years later however, there is tragic news of American lives lost in major combat almost every day. The numbers tell the story of a war that has been 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.” Three years ago, 75 percent of the American public approved of Bush's handling of Iraq; now, only 37 percent do. One of the only things the administration has managed to accomplish in the last three years is to stick by its failing Iraq strategy.

• The mission in Iraq seems never ending. Bush declared our mission "complete" in May 2003, but as the loss of American lives has accelerated, the mission in Iraq has been anything but complete. In the lead-up to the war, Bush said about Iraq, "[I]magine a terrorist network with Iraq as an arsenal and as a training ground...." Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine that anymore — the State Department reports that Iraq is now a terror haven. The thing we wanted to prevent by going to war was actually created by us going to war. American Progress has a plan to win the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.
  
  
• The Iraq reconstruction is barely progressing. While Bush stood on that aircraft carrier, he said "We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools." But the truth on the ground is that the reconstruction effort in Iraq is not going well. A plan to build 150 health care clinics has not resulted in much more than empty shells and uneven walls. "Power blackouts remain a constant frustration and only 19 percent of Iraqis today have working sewer connections, down from 24 percent before the war, according to U.S. government figures." 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.
  
  
• There is still no accountability from the administration on mistakes made. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview, "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. This criticism matches that of Paul Bremer who said his requests for more troops were ignored. Yet the Bush administration has not acknowledged that it failed to plan properly for the war and its aftermath. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continue to duck responsibility by pinning any blame on military commanders.