A White House official on Thursday said it would be a “ridiculous P.R. stunt” for Congress to withhold delivery of its war-funding bill to the desk of President Bush, who has vowed to veto it, until Tuesday — the fourth anniversary of the president’s so-called “mission accomplished” speech.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said she “wouldn’t put it past” Democrats to send Bush the bill, which contains a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, on May 1. That’s the anniversary of a much-criticized speech Bush gave in 2003 in front of a banner declaring “Mission Accomplished.”
“If it is the case that they withheld money for the troops in order to try to play some ridiculous P.R. stunt,” Perino said, “that is the height of cynicism, and absolutely so unfortunate for the men and women in uniform and their families who are watching the debate.”
She traced the timing to Congress’ recent spring break, when lawmakers declined to appoint conferees to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill, which the president has promised to veto because of the timeline.
“It does make you wonder: Why did the House wait so long to appoint conferees?” Perino said. “There were no conferees appointed during that two-week break.”
Perino also defended the speech Bush gave four years ago on an aircraft carrier to mark the U.S. military’s swift overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Although the speech received high praise at the time, it gradually became an object of ridicule as the United States struggled to establish order in post-Saddam Iraq.
“Our opponents for years have misconstrued that speech,” she said. “I would encourage anybody who’s actually going to write about this to go back and read that speech and what it was about.”
She said the “Mission Accomplished” banner referred specifically to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had served an extended tour in the war.
“Their mission was accomplished,” Perino said. “The president never said ‘mission accomplished’ in his speech.”
Bush once said the White House was not responsible for the banner, although a spokesman later backpedaled when it was revealed that White House had indeed been responsible.
