Mission Accomplished: Four Years of Iraq Talking Points

BlueOregon contributor Jon Perr joins Jeff Alworth in marking tomorrow's fourth anniversary of President Bush's declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq by offering an exhaustive list of the talking points, sound bites, slogans and rallying cries the President and his GOP amen corner used to justify the war, demonize Saddam Hussein and tar the Democratic Party.

Using just a small sampling, you can quickly recreate the President's narrative of fear-mongering, arrogance, deceit and duplicity:

"Saddam was an ally of Qaeda" who sought "uranium in Africa" to build "weapons of mass destruction." He was a "grave and gathering threat" whose "smoking gun could take the form of a mushroom cloud." We were to be "greeted as liberators" by the Iraqi people whose "purple fingers" showed that "freedom is God's gift to humanity."

But now the Democrat Congress supports a "surrender date" and is "waving a white flag" to "embolden the enemy." Nancy Pelosi is trying to "micromanage the war." How can Democrats "confirm General Petraeus but oppose his mission?" If they have their way, the insurgents will "follow us home."

For a look back at four years of wartime marketing gone bad and to see which Iraq sound bites are on - and off - the Republicans' approved talking points list, visit Perrspectives.