Happy Third Anniversary "Mission Accomplished"

*sigh*

There's really not a lot to say here. The Great Decider has gone on record as saying, "Wasn't my idea...or even our idea...wuz the Navys idea but we produced it cuz we gots people that duz stuff like that" (Ok, not a direct quote:)

Editor & Publisher has a wonderful article HERE that highlights some of the news stories that immediately followed the harrowing carrier landing...

From Dubya, May 1

"In these 19 months that changed the world, our actions have been focused, and deliberate, and proportionate to the offense. We have not forgotten the victims of September 11th -- the last phone calls, the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble. With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got."

By Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt

BAGHDAD, May 2 -- The Bush administration is planning to withdraw most United States combat forces from Iraq over the next several months and wants to shrink the American military presence to less than two divisions by the fall, senior allied officials said today.
Letter to the Editor, May 3

A 'Letter to the Editor' (NY Times)

Re: ''Bush Declares 'One Victory in a War on Terror' '' (front page, May 2):

Some unanswered questions remain: Where are the weapons of mass destruction? What evidence makes Iraq ''an ally of Al Qaeda''? Where is Saddam Hussein? Where is Osama bin Laden? Who is next?

Martin Deppe
Chicago
--------------------------

Yes Martin...all good questions. Unpatriotic but good...

The Christian Science Monitor has a nice article HERE on the current state of affairs...Yes it's all pretty bleak but I do want to draw your attention to the SIGIR report.

What's a SIGIR? It is a he. He is "Stuart W. Bowen Jr. And SIGIR stands for Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction (I know, cool title...:) His report comes out today and is...umm...chiding in it's tone:) It's interesting to see the different headlines accompanying the story...

Huge fraud exposed in Iraq contracts: sez The Age

Bowen: Iraq Reconstruction Still a "Mixed Picture" sez the Council on Foreign Relations

Read the FULL REPORT HERE!

Your tax dollars at work. Here's my favorite Bowen quote:

"SIGIR did not receive access to selected information SIGIR requested form the ... subordinate commands that was material to the audit"

That's governmentese for, "These weasels didn't tell us everything"

Let's let DoD respond, off the record of course.

"The quality of the SIGIR reports has been so poor that the government agencies who are the subject of the reports have become the quality assurance for the documents," a defense official who did not want his name used told the (Washington)Times. "Countless man-hours are expended correcting the SIGIR's mistakes and inaccuracies."

Priceless. That comes from the article linked to above which is headlined:

"Defense officials: Too much Iraq oversight"

These guys outta go on the road when this is all over...hilarity.

Stay Naked.

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