Four Years Ago Today: Mission Accomplished

From Digital Museum of Modern Art

Today is the fourth anniversary of Bush's declaration of Mission Accomplished in the Iraq war. Think Progress has the depressing numbers on what's happened in Iraq since that day. Senate Democrats provide data on what the war has meant for New Mexico and other states.

is running the above TV ad now that Bush has vetoed the Iraq supplemental bill.

Mr. President, you can veto a bill but you can't . Call Bush at 202-456-111.

Recalling what happened four years ago, Media Matters reports:

On May 1, 2003, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln aboard an S-3B Viking jet, emerged from the aircraft in full flight gear, and proceeded to "press[] flesh," as The Washington Post put it, as he shook hands and hugged crew members in front of the cameras. Later that day, Bush delivered a nationally televised speech from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln in which he declared that "[m]ajor combat operations in Iraq have ended," all the while standing under a banner reading: "Mission Accomplished." Despite lingering questions over the continued violence in Iraq, the failure to locate weapons of mass destruction, and the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, as well as evidence that Bush may have shirked his responsibilities in the Texas Air National Guard (TANG) during the Vietnam War, the print and televised media fawned over Bush's "grand entrance" and the image of Bush as the "jet pilot" and the "Fighter Dog."

Juan Cole has a commentary in links. Now even Republicans are talking about benchmarks for any future war funding bills. Here are the endorsements of five retired generals for the Iraq funding bill.