Mission Accomplished, 5 years later

May 1, 2003 President Bush was flown onto an air craft carrier stationed in San Diego so he could declare "mission accomplished" in Iraq. With that in mind I bring you the words of Vito Fossella celebrating that anniversary in 2004;

Republicans have rallied around the president, insisting the invasion and occupation of Iraq has been largely successful, despite a flare-up of deadly violence in recent weeks.

"On balance, I think things are going well," said Rep. Vito Fossella, R-New York, told CNN's "Crossfire" Wednesday. "We've liberated a country; 25 million or so Iraqis now can look forward to democracy and freedoms that we currently enjoy."

1816 Days Later

via the Washington Post, Combat Stress May Cost U.S. Up to $6 Billion;

About 300,000 U.S. military personnel who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, a mental toll that will cost the nation as much as $6.2 billion over two years, according to a Rand Corp. report released yesterday.

In addition, nearly 20 percent of the 1.64 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, or about 320,000 personnel, reported a probable traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment, the report notes, although it says their treatment needs have not been determined.

1733 Days Later

1,483 days since 'Mission Accomplished'

It has been 1.483 days since President Bush stood on that aircraft carrier under his banner proclaiming 'mission accomplished.' We toppled the dictator and set up a democratic government, so why are we still putting our troops in harms way?

April was the deadliest month for the U.S. military so far this year, with 102 personnel killed in action. U.S. deaths have risen each month since intensified efforts to secure Baghdad and al-Anbar province involving about 30,000 additional U.S. forces started in February.

A total of 2,772 U.S. service members had been killed in action since the March 2003 Iraq invasion as of May 15, according to the Department of Defense Web site. The number of deaths including those from other causes was 3,393. More than 25,000 had been wounded, 11,270 of them so seriously they couldn't return to duty. [via Bloomberg]

Our mission is accomplished. Bring our troops home!

1462 Days Later

1462 days since the President stood on an air craft carrier and declared 'mission accomplished' in Iraq. Rep. Vito Fossella, why then are we still there?