Another “Mission Accomplished Day” post

On May 1, 2003, Bush delivered a nationally televised speech from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln in which he declared that “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” all the while standing under a banner reading: “Mission Accomplished.”   Since then 3,924 American soldiers have died.  Since the war began 4,063 soldiers have died.  A “miscalculation”?   

 5 years later…

US troop deaths hit 7-month high in Iraq: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq 04/30/2008
US report says al-Qaida gaining strength: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3OfYY31yv9LNOspwKcj73SwDegwD90CCOO00 04/30/2008

 

 

Before the war, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsay estimated the cost at $100 to $200 billion. Bush, Cheney and friends fired that guy, and found that the correct estimate for the cost of the war would be $50 to $60 billion. It’s now over $500 billion and rising.  Even if we quit today, ongoing costs (withdrawal, medical/psychiatric care, disability payments, administrative costs) will double that (the sooner we stop, the better).