Political Quotes

“5 years ago on the deck of an aircraft carrier returning from the Middle East, America and the world witnessed perhaps the greatest act of hubris our country has ever seen in wartime. Resplendent in a flight suit, landing theatrically in a fighter jet, President Bush declared: ``In the battle for Iraq, United States and our allies have prevailed.'' Above him was a banner, printed by the White House, with the idea coming from Karl Rove. That banner proclaimed ``Mission Accomplished.'' With families fleeing from Iraq by the tens of thousands to live as refugees, now approaching 2 rac{1}{2} million--mission accomplished? With no government in place, with towns destroyed, with infrastructure in shambles--mission accomplished? When President Bush put on his flight suit, 139 American troops had lost their lives. Today, the toll has reached 4,058 or 4,059. In April, with the highest death count in 7 months, 51 Americans were killed. When President Bush landed on the runway of the USS Abraham Lincoln, 548 Americans had been wounded. Today that count is far more than 30,000, many of those grave injuries. When President Bush announced that ``major combat operations have ended,'' the American taxpayers had spent about $79 billion in Iraq. Today, $526 billion and counting, we are spending $5,000 every second, 7 days a week, every week of the month, every month of the year.…”