Mission Accomplished

I am not a mild-mannered individual by nature, so it does not take much to get my blood up. Having said that, one thing that pushes me to the edge of aneurysm is every time I hear some nitwit say “We have now lost 32 people since Bush declared the war was over” or “2 more soldiers were killed today, even though we are X number of days since Bush declared ‘Mission Accomplished.'” It is such a stupid, dishonest, and factless charge that you would think Democrats would quit making- never mind, nothing is beneath these guys anymore. At any rate, let’s review.

Operation Iraqi Freedom had several main components:

The military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom consist of first, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate, Iraq’s weapons of mass destruciton. Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out terrorists from the country. Fourth, to collect intelligence related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as is related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needed citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq’s oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. Finally, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government.

For those with problems with numbers, that is eight (8) separate missions under the auspices of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Clearly, the most difficult of those, and the one which would require the most combat firepower, was the first mission, which, for the Democrats, I will state again:

Ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.

The major combat operations of Operation Iraqi Freedom started on March 19th at 21:34 EST, with the following description given for the beginning of major combat operations:

At 9:34 PM EST on March 19, 2003 (5:34 AM local time in Baghdad on March 20), United States and United Kingdom forces consisting of 40 cruise missiles and strikes led by 2 F-117s from the 8th Fighter Squadron (supported by Navy EA-6B Prowlers) and other aircraft began conducting military operations against the state of Iraq designed to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and to remove the Iraqi Regime from power. Less than two hours after a deadline expired for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq, the sound of air raid sirens were heard in Baghdad. A short time later, President Bush addressed the American public stating that coalition forces were in the “early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.”

According to the Washington Post, President Bush signed the launch order at 6:30 PM on March 19.

Early indications were that the strikes were on three targets of opportunity (based on perishable intelligence) on the outskirts of Baghdad and that target consisted of elements of the Iraqi leadership. Reports also indicate that the US military was transmitting over the Iraqi National Radio frequency.

This was the beginning of all the missions stated previously, but most notably, this was beginning of the major air and land campaigns ti depose Saddam Hussein and to end his reign of terror.

On Day Fourteen (2 April 2003), the following information was available:

The U.S. military says its forces have moved within 50 kilometers of the southern outskirts of Baghdad, the goal of the two-week-old campaign in Iraq.

The advance on Baghdad has been coming from two directions, the southwest and the southeast.

From the southwest, U.S. Army units pushed past Republican Guard positions west of Karbala toward Baghdad and seized control of a nearby dam. There had been fears that Iraqis would blow up the dam and flood the region, making it impassable to coalition troops.

From the southeast, near the city of Kut, U.S. Marines “destroyed” the Baghdad Division of the Republican Guard. There they also seized a strategically located bridge over the Tigris River, which runs through Baghdad farther north.

On Day Twenty-One (9 April 2003), the following events occured:

Units of the 1st Marine Division, moving through Baghdad from the east, linked up with the US 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), holding positions in the central city. In a scene transmitted live throughout the world, U.S. soldiers tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd of Iraqi citizens.

Marine Regimental Combat Team 7 of the 1st Marine Division secured the International Committee of the Red Cross compound in Baghdad.

On Day Twenty-Six (14 April 2003), the last city fell:

On the 26th day of combat operations, a US Marine Corps task force captured Tikrit, bringing the last major bastion of the Hussein regime under Coalition control. Tikrit and the nearby village of Auja (Saddam Hussein’s home village) were heavily fortified and defended by an estimated 2500 regular and paramilitary fighters. However, air and ground attacks reduced the Iraqi positions, and the Iraqi troops were reportedly leaving their positions, weapons, and uniforms to flee the Coalition advance. 4 Iraqi tanks were confirmed destroyed in the skirmishes around Tikrit.

A CENTCOM spokesman reported that no oil wells remained on fire in Iraq. Most, if not all, petroleum facilities are now under coalition control.

In Baghdad and other major cities in central and southern Iraq, Coalition forces are beginning efforts to reconstitute utility and police service. A priority of civil engineering forces is to restore electricity in major cities throughout Iraq. In addition to joint patrols with Iraqi citizens to curb looting and street violence, US, British, and Australian special forces continue to search for leaders from the Hussein regime and for weapons of mass destruction.

For all intents and purposes, the major air campaign and the major land campaign was over, and the majority of the world was in agreement that in fact the Primary Mission of Operation Iraqi Freedom, to end the regime of Saddam Hussein, had been completed. Two weeks later, President Bush would give a speech to the world from the deck of the carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, which was described here prior the actual event by CBS News:

President Bush will arrive aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Thursday when an experienced pilot lands a tiny plane on the carrier’s deck, with only a steel cable to slow down the speeding craft.

The president’s speech to the nation will also require a deft touch. He wants to call the war in Iraq a success and give Americans some sense of finality even though troops remain on the ground and in harms way…

Still, the president will carefully parse his words so that he does not declare either victory or an end to war.

Such declarations could trigger international provisions requiring the speedy release of prisoners of war, limiting efforts to go after deposed Iraqi leaders and designating the United States as an occupying power.

Another factor is the situation on the ground. U.S. troops have fired on and killed anti-U.S. protesters in recent days, for instance, after saying they were fired on first from among the crowds. “Threats do, indeed, remain,” Fleischer said.

The President, in his speech, stated the following:

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We’re bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We’re pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We’ve begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We’re helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. (Applause.)

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq.

Nowhere in the speech, precisely nowhere, did he state that the war was over. What was stated was that MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS were over. The mission was accomplished, that of deposing the Hussein regime. In fact, he even mentions how all of the other missions stated in Operation Iraqi Freedom were going forward.

In other words- when Democrats and the left claim that Bush said the war was over, claimed that their would be no more fighting or that Iraq was now safe, they are simply LYING to you. This is nothing new for them- they are desperate. But they are banking on your foolishness. Every day another person brings up the number of fatalities as some sort of evidence that Bush has lied. I do not like the fact that we are losing a man a day- I think it is tragic and awful- but Iraq is still a very dangerous place- and regardless, we will not leave until all of the missions are completed. The President has stated as much.

What you really have to keep in mind is that this is what really pisses them off is this:

Add to that the fact that Iraq is turning out to look more and more like a success every day, and the Democrats are livid. But that and the Democrat lies are nothing new.