WP: Kerry Hits Bush Quote On Carrier Banner

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52627-2004Sep26?language=printer

John F. Kerry excoriated President Bush on Sunday for saying that he had no regrets about his declaration more than a year ago that the mission in Iraq was accomplished, when the country continues to be in a state of war.

"I will never be a president who just says, 'Mission Accomplished.' I will get the mission accomplished," Kerry told a couple of hundred supporters who gathered to greet him when he arrived here en route to a secluded resort to prepare for his first presidential debate Thursday.

Kerry was referring to an interview Bush gave Bill O'Reilly of Fox News in which O'Reilly asked Bush whether he would still do the carrier landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath the "Mission Accomplished" banner. At the time, 16 months ago, Bush referred to Iraq as a "victory" and declared an end to major combat there.

"Absolutely," the president replied in the interview, to air on Monday's "O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly, apparently surprised, replied, "You would?" "Of course," Bush continued. "I'm saying to the troops, on this carrier and elsewhere, 'Thanks for serving America.' Absolutely. And by the way, those sailors and airmen loved seeing the commander in chief. . . . You bet I'd do it again."

In April, White House senior adviser Karl Rove told an editorial board meeting with the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio that the "Mission Accomplished" sign had been a mistake. "I wish the banner was not up there," Rove said. "I'll acknowledge the fact that it has become one of those convenient symbols."