In 2003, Mission 1 was accomplished in Iraq

Anyone notice the big thing missing in the coverage, five years later, of President Bush’s May 1, 2003, speech, in which he said, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended”?

Agence France Press:

Five years after President George W. Bush stood on a warship deck in front of a banner reading “Mission Accomplished,” the Iraq war has again thrust to the forefront of the US presidential campaign.

What’s missing? These news reports fail to point out, first, that, in addition to saying “a tyrant has fallen” and “major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” Bush said:

“We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We’re bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous.”

But the bigger thing missing from the stories is the fact that those now complaining loudest about the length of the war also were unhappy way back in 2003, when Bush accurately announced, “A tyrant has fallen.”

Accepting fascism. Even then, the complainers wanted the fascist tyrant left in place. These complainers are free, but they are too selfish to see freedom as anyone else’s right.

The first mission, topping a totalitarian regime, was indeed accomplished by May 1, 2003. The second mission, establishing a secure democracy, today appears nearly complete, in spite of the sporadic violent opposition by fascists and fanatics.

What do the cynics of the Free World say? They say no Iraq liberation should have been accomplished; Saddam Hussein should still be in power, repressing, torturing, murdering and starving the Iraqi people, occasionally invading neighboring nations, and, as soon as sanctions crumbled, rebuilding his arsenals and ties to terrorists.

Time no problem. For the friends of Saddam, the length of the fight never mattered. They wouldn’t have been happy with freeing Iraq if it took 10 minutes.

Frank Warner

Comments

[Kevin]

All too true. And what's worse is that some of the complainers are finally admitting that although yes, Iraq is a democracy now, it's not the type of democracy we want. As if we should decide that type of thing for them.

I hope I speak for all of us when I say that none of us wanted to make a 'little USA' out of Iraq. We just wanted to end the torture, misogyny, and destitution over there that tyranny tends to create.

After five years, Frank the liberal is still right. Free all the people of the world, and we'll have the best chance for peace. My greatest wish is that all of the hippies and code pinkos would have as liberal a view as Frank.

[Frank Warner]

Kevin has figured it out.

Now maybe the Democrats will.