GW Bush and his White House convinced the American people that Saddam and Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction or WMDs. A pre-emptive invasion was successful beyond the wildest dreams of the neo-conservatives seeking to transform the status quo of the Middle East. The president landed on on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. He strutted to the speaking podium in a flight suit, giving thumbs up to the banner MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
That was May 1, 2003.
The casualty list for American troops stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded.
Over eight years have passed since GW Bush’s triumph.
The body count for US troops has reached 4,404 dead and 31,827 wounded in action, although this August was the first month without a single fatality, combat or non-combat, according to icasualties.org
All US military personnel will leave Iraq by year’s end.
It’s long overdue, however Iraqis still suffer horrific loss of life from suicide bombings.
Almost 1500 dead this year.
They will have to figure the new MISSION ACCOMPLISHED on their own.
Va-Ssalam-o-Alai-kom or good luck in Arabic.
They will certainly be needing it.