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'We didn't mean that mission'
29/10/2003 08:29 - (SA)
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| Bush gives a "thumbs-up" on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. (Scott Applewhite, AP) |
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Washington - Six months after he spoke on an aircraft carrier deck under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," President George W Bush disavowed any connection with the war message. Later, the White House changed its story and said there was a link.
The "Mission Accomplished" boast has been mocked many times since Bush's carrier speech as criticism has mounted over the failed search for weapons of mass destruction and the continuing violence in Iraq.
When it was brought up again on Tuesday at a news conference, Bush said, "The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished."
"I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff - they weren't that ingenious, by the way."
That explanation hadn't surfaced during months of questions to White House officials about proclaiming the mission in Iraq successful while violence continued.
After the news conference, a White House spokesperson said the Lincoln's crew asked the White House to have the sign made. The White House asked a private vendor to produce the sign, and the crew put it up, said the spokesperson. She said she did not know who paid for the sign.
Later, a Pentagon spokesperson called The Associated Press to reiterate that the banner was the crew's idea.
"It truly did signify a mission accomplished for the crew," Navy Commander Conrad Chun said, adding the president's visit marked the end of the ship's 10-month international deployment.
Political photo-op
The president's appearance on the Abraham Lincoln, which was returning home after service in the Persian Gulf, included his dramatic and much-publicised landing on the ship's deck.
Bush's disavowal on Tuesday brought new criticism from Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and retired Army General Wesley Clark, who are both seeking the Democratic nomination to run against the president. Clark said Bush "backtracked on his May 1 political photo op on the USS Abraham Lincoln by blaming the troops on the aircraft carrier for the declaration of 'mission accomplished' in Iraq."
- AP
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