Less than 24 hours after ordering missile strikes in Syria, President Donald trump said, “mission accomplished!” on Twitter on Saturday.
The reaction was swift: Twitter users and political experts immediately drew Parallels with President George Bush’s now-infamous 2003 speech for a month in the Iraq war, in which he announced the end of “major hostilities” in Iraq under the “Mission accomplished” banner. In fact, the war was far from over, and will last for years.
A missile attack that trump was referring to, occurred on Friday evening. In the announcement, trump said that the attack was underway in retaliation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons by the rebels areas of the country. The attack killed at least 42 adults and children dead. USA, UK and France to hit three targets in the country, including the capital Damascus, in what Minister of defense of Jim Mattis called “one shot”.
President trump, who publicly announced his thinking on Syria to Twitter in recent days took to the platform to make a victory lap after the bombing.
“Perfectly executed kick last night” – he wrote. “Thank you France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and their strength thin military. Might not be the best result. Mission Accomplished!”
The Pentagon supported the adoption of the trump. “We met our goals. We hit the sites, the heart of the program of chemical weapons. So, the mission was completed,” press Secretary Dana white said in a statement to ABC news.
Bush thought his “mission accomplished” in Iraq in 2003. It was not.
In may 2003, President Bush spoke from the deck of the USS Lincoln, saying that the United States and its allies had prevailed in Iraq. He appeared under a banner reading “Mission accomplished”, but never used this phrase in his address. “The war on terror is not over, but it is not endless,” Bush said. “We don’t know the day of final victory, but we have witnessed the tide”.
Eight years later, President Barack Obama withdrew the last US combat troops from Iraq in December 2011. But the unrest in Iraq continues, Obama sent troops back into the country to fight with ISIS in 2014.
According to the website Iraq body count, the conflict has killed about 200,000 dead civilians, and some estimates put the number of deaths is actually closer to half a million. Thousands of American soldiers died as well. The mission of the preemptive “Bush made” it will haunt his presidency.
When trump used the phrase in a recent tweet, people immediately responded with criticism.
The strike on Friday marks the second time that the United States waded into the seven years of conflict in Syria in response to an attack using chemical weapons. In April 2017, trump has ordered the strike on Syria after Assad’s troops killed more than 80 people with chemical weapons.
It’s not really clear what the mission of the United States in Syria at present, and analysts warn about the risk of escalation. Russia, which supports Assad, has warned that the Friday RAID in the bombing “will not be achieved without consequences.” And chemical attacks in Syria would almost certainly not enough, Assad’s forces launched more than 200 of them since the war began.
Regardless, trump may want to take a cue from history and not repeat the mistakes of the Bush — and not to declare victory before it is clear what will happen next.
Sourse: vox.com
