On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush gave a speech that would eventually haunt his presidency.
After arriving on the USS Abraham Lincoln via Lockheed S-3 Viking, Bush delivered a speech declaring the end of major combat operations in Iraq. What he actually said during the speech was quickly overshadowed by a banner that was hung above him reading “Mission Accomplished.” The banner was seen as a premature declaration of victory in Iraq because the conflict was far from over and military casualties and fatalities continued.
Bush never once uttered the words “mission accomplished” during his speech. In fact, he acknowledged point-blank that the conflict was not over.
“We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous,” Bush said. “The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. And then we will leave — and we will leave behind a free Iraq.”
“The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide,” Bush added. “No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory.”
As the conflict in Iraq continued and more of our troops were wounded and killed, the media (and the Democrats) often referred to that speech and that banner to undermine President Bush.
Yet today, as many appear ready to lockdown against because of the omicron variant of COVID-19, it seems we have forgotten Joe Biden’s own “mission accomplished” speech from this summer, in which he celebrated our “independence from COVID-19.”
#MissionAccomplished #EpicFail pic.twitter.com/jjUHJo869x
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) December 22, 2021
“Just think back to where this nation was a year ago,” Biden said in a July 5 speech delivered on the White House South Lawn. “Think back to where you were a year ago. And think about how far we’ve come. From silent streets to crowded parade routes lined with people waving American flags; from empty stadiums and arenas to fans back to their seats cheering together again; from families pressing hands against a window to grandparents hugging their grandchildren once again. We’re back traveling again. We’re back seeing one another again.”
“Today, all across this nation, we can say with confidence: America is coming back together,” Biden declared. “Two hundred and forty-five years ago, we declared our independence from a distant king. Today, we’re closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.”
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Biden, like Bush, did acknowledge that the fight against COVID wasn’t over. “We’ve got a lot more work to do,” he said. But he nevertheless believed that we were in the final lap to victory. And it sure seemed like it; at the time of the speech, new cases were at their lowest levels since the earliest weeks of the pandemic. Biden was, without a doubt, celebrating our “independence from COVID-19.”
Yet, that independence never came. Instead, we got mask mandates and vaccine mandates. We got Dr. Fauci telling us that we should be checking the vaccination status of our holiday guests, Biden warning that a winter of death was coming for the unvaccinated, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky agreeing that COVID is not ever going to go away.
We are no more independent from COVID than we were a year ago. Yet, Biden hasn’t been mocked or called out for celebrating our “independence from COVID-19,” the way George W. Bush was dragged over the coals for the “Mission Accomplished” banner that hung above him as he announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq.
