MSNBC's Culhane left out fact of later speech in reporting White House claim about “Mission Accomplished”

Written by Brian Levy

Published

Patty Culhane reported the White House's claim that in President Bush's speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Bush “never said the words 'mission accomplished.' ” However, slightly more than a month later, Bush told U.S. troops in Qatar that “America sent you on a mission to remove a grave threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been accomplished.”


On the May 1 edition of MSNBC Live, MSNBC correspondent Patty Culhane reported the White House's claim “that if you look at” President Bush's May 1, 2003, speech -- which he delivered aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner -- “he never said the words 'mission accomplished.' ” But Culhane did not report that slightly more than a month later, Bush told U.S. troops in Qatar that “America sent you on a mission to remove a grave threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been accomplished,” as Media Matters for America has noted.

From the May 1 edition of MSNBC Live:

CULHANE: No, probably not a coincidence. And Democrats are taking this day to really pounce on the president. Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate, released a pretty harsh statement. She said this -- that this is one of the most shameful episodes in American history. White House officials are firing back. You know, they're talking about that “Mission Accomplished” banner over the president's head there on the Abraham Lincoln. And they're saying that the Navy came up with the idea for the sign, which is true, although the White House actually had it made. And they're saying today that if you look at his speech, he never said the words “mission accomplished.” That is true, except he did say this in that speech you're seeing right now, quote, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” He did go on in that speech to say there are difficult times ahead. Democrats, though, using this anniversary to pounce on the president's handling of the war in Iraq.

In addition to overlooking Bush's remark during the June 5, 2003, speech in Qatar, Culhane ignored the revelation in Washington Post assistant managing editor Bob Woodward's book State of Denial (Simon & Schuster, 2006) that then-Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld claims to have taken the phrase “Mission Accomplished” out of a draft of the May 1, 2003, speech. From the book:

Bush and his staff were borderline giddy. The president's speechwriters, including Michael Gerson, drafted an address that echoed the formal surrender of Japan on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri at the end of World War II. The draft borrowed General [Douglas] MacArthur's memorable remarks -- “the guns are silent” -- and according to Rumsfeld included the line “Mission Accomplished.”

The Missouri was not available -- it was now a memorial at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii -- but the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was at sea off the coast of San Diego.

“I took 'Mission Accomplished' out,” Rumsfeld recalled. “I was in Baghdad and I was given a draft of that thing and I just died. And I said, it's too inclusive. And I fixed it and sent it back. They fixed the speech but not the sign.”

On May 1, Bush, the former Texas Air National Guard pilot, landed dramatically on the Lincoln, riding in the second seat of a Navy anti-submarine warplane. Later after trading his military flight suit for a suit and tie, he addressed the nation and the world, standing before 5,000 of the crew under a huge banner reading “Mission Accomplished.” The Lincoln's crew had been told over the ship's public address system that after the president officially came aboard, “you'll be allowed to cheer as loudly as possible, and you'll be encouraged to show your affection.” The White House later claimed the “Mission Accomplished” sign had been the Navy's idea. Rumsfeld is the first to say “Mission Accomplished” was in the White House draft speech. (Pages 186-187)