‘Mission accomplished’
1/5/08
May 1 marks the fifth anniversary since George Bush, the US president, declared all major military operations in Iraq to be over, in a speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln warship as a banner proclaiming “mission accomplished” hung in the background. However, five years on from the declaration, there have been more than 4,000 US military deaths and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or fled the country while the fighting against the presence of US-led troops in the country is ongoing. Here is a selection of comments from George Bush, the US president, and other senior White House figures, on the aftermath of the war in Iraq.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FC850AFB-24CB-4BE4-822C-B8AB9C179135.htm
Falluja’s struggle after invasion
Dahr Jamail; 1/5/08
Five years ago, George Bush, the US president, announced aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier that the war in Iraq was a “mission accomplished”. But events in the western Anbar province had already been spiralling out of control and were threatening the volatile security situation in occupied Iraq. On April 28, 2003, US soldiers occupying the Al-Qaid school in Falluja opened fire on dozens of demonstrators who had been protesting the use of the premises as a forward base for the US 82nd Airborne Division.Residents of Falluja had also been protesting against the use of night vision goggles, which they mistakenly believed were used by US soldiers to spy on their wives and daughters. Seventeen Iraqis were killed and scores wounded.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/093992AB-96A7-45DE-966E-9F0726706DE0.htm
Twin blasts kill dozens in Iraq
1/5/08
Two suspected suicide attacks in Iraq’s Diyala province have killed at least 30 people and wounded about 60 others, police and military officials say. The bombers detonated explosive vests within minutes of each other in the town of Balad Ruz on Thursday, Major General Abdel Karim al-Rubaie, head of the provincial military command, said. “The first bomber blew himself up amid a crowd of people. Minutes later another bomber blew himself up as people were trying to rescue the victims of the first attack,” he said.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DEA3378E-501D-4C78-94F0-6BD241FE5AA5.htm
Tags: '03 Faluja Massacre, Iraq, Terrorism, USA, Wishful Thinking