On May 1, U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) released the following statement in rememberance of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Note: if you have not yet read the October 2005 Rolling Stone article about Rep. Emanuel titled "The Enforcer" I encourage you to do so. You can access the article at: http://www.rollingstone.come/politics/story/8091986/the_enforcer
And now, the May 1 press release . . .
“In honor of today's Mission Accomplished anniversary, allow me to remind the President of some of his "accomplishements" in Iraq:“Predicting that the Iraq conflict would take no more than five months, that our troops would be greeted as liberators, that stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction would be found, and that Iraqi oil would finance the reconstruction.
“Ignoring Paul Bremer’s call for additional troops on the ground in the days following the invasion, leading to widespread looting, destruction of infrastructure, the escape of Baath Party officials and the development of a sustained insurgency.
“Failing to provide sufficient vehicle armor and body armor to protect American lives.Missing an opportunity to capture Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2002 and again in 2004.
“Allowing Iraq to become a haven for terrorism.
“Projecting the cost of the war would be $50 to $60 billion, when in reality – factoring in the cost of Afghanistan – current estimates are closer to $800 billion.
“Allowing the dereliction of leadership at Abu Ghraib, leading to systemic prisoner abuse.
“Failing to restore electricity and water to significant portions of Baghdad and Iraq.
“Losing track of $10 Billion that went missing from no-bid reconstruction contracts. Overstraining National Guard and Reserves resources.
“Neglecting homeland security, leading to 12 D’s, 5 F’s, and 2 incompletes from the 9/11 Commission.
“Since the President landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared victory, we’ve lost 2,260 American lives, and current estimates project costs at $800 billion. Clearly we went to war with the leadership we had, not the one we needed.”
