Five Years After 'Mission Accomplished'

Here is the transcript, video and a photo from that now-infamous speech.

The Critics Speak

Paul J. Nyden writes in the Charleston Gazette that Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the Democrat from West Virginia, gave his first floor speech in months yesterday.

Said Byrd: "Five years ago, I took issue with the President's choreographed political theatrics because I believed that our military forces deserved to be treated with respect and dignity, and not used as stage props to embellish a presidential speech.

"The President's declaration of 'Mission Accomplished' and the 'end of major combat operations' proved wildly premature and dangerously naïve. The complete lack of foresight and planning by the President for what lay ahead became tragically clear in short order. Our nation continues to pay the price every single day. More than 97% of the more than 4000 Americans killed in Iraq lost their lives after the President's flashy declaration of victory.

"Years from now, I expect that history books will feature the sorry 'Mission Accomplished' episode as the epitome of this administration's reckless and arrogant foreign policy, which has reaped disastrous consequences for our nation and the world. . . .

"President Bush has recklessly squandered more than 200 years of American leadership, good will, and prosperity. If that is what he was aiming for when he took office, then he can claim 'Mission Accomplished.' That is his legacy."

Here's a statement today from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "Five years ago today, on the deck of an aircraft carrier, returning from the Middle East, America and the world bore witness to perhaps the greatest act of hubris that our nation has ever seen in wartime. . . .

"When President Bush put on his flight suit, 139 American troops had lost their lives. Today, the toll has reached 4,058. April had the highest death count in seven months -- 51 Americans killed. When President Bush landed on the runway of the USS Abraham Lincoln, 545 Americans had been wounded. Today, that count is more than 30,000 -- many of those injuries grave.

"When President Bush announced that 'major combat operations have ended,' American taxpayers had spent $79 billion in Iraq. Today, $526 billion -- and rising every single day -- with experts predicting a total cost of $3 trillion, all of it borrowed. In May 2003, many of our allies had already begun to stand apart from us on the war. Today our moral authority in the world has been gravely damaged.

"Not one American looks back on the five years since that aircraft stunt with any sense of satisfaction. Our country looks back with grief, sadness, yet with a fierce and unwavering commitment to finally change the mission and responsibly end the war in Iraq."

Opinion Watch

The Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune editorial board writes: "If only. What other way to consider the ill-conceived 'Mission Accomplished' banner that hung behind President Bush as he delivered his even less-accurate assessment of the 'end to major combat in Iraq' from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln five years ago today.

"If only it had really been the end of the war, or truly of major operations, U.S. military casualties would have stood at 139 dead and 524 wounded, according to the independent Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. Today, Americans have suffered the staggering loss of 4,051 killed and 29,780 wounded. . . .