Solomonia Archive: It was Tommy's Idea

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

"Mission Accomplished." I thought it was a great moment, and a well deserved moment for the troops and all involved. But there are those who have to find fault and turn a great moment around for their own purposes. It's understandable (if not excusable).

From Tommy Franks' book:

"Mr. Secretary," I said to Donald Rumsfeld at the end of our scheduled VTC [video teleconference]. "We've been talking about the timing of Phase IV [reconstruction]. The British are going to hold a victory parade when their first combat units return from the Gulf. But out soldiers aren't going home yet. I'd like to figure out a way to acknowledge their sacrifice and service. There's a lot of work to be done over here, but major combat operations are over." I wanted the Secretary - or the President - to publicly acknowledge this fact for the troops.

And there was another reason to make a public statement about the end of Phase III [decisive combat operations]. There were Coalition members who didn't want to participate in combat, but had said they would help once that phase was over. "I'd like to see some of them start bringing in their reconstruction and humanitarian assistance troops," I told Rumsfeld.

"What do you have in mind, Tom?"

"It would be good if the President could acknowledge the success of major combat operations, Mr. Secretary." I tried to find the right words. "The troops have accomplished every mission we gave them. There's never been a combat operation as successful as Iraqi Freedom."

"I'll talk to the President," Don Rumsfeld said.

Unintended consequences. [Italics in the original. -Sol]

I was grateful on the first of May for the President's words. Little did I know the criticism he would face for doing what I had recommended.

So the mission was accomplished, and in spectacular fashion - even if there were more missions to come. And the announcement had a practical purpose - to trigger the involvement of nations who did not want to engage in Phase III, but were willing to help in reconstruction - even if some nations had no intention of doing so, instead hoping for American failure.

Despite the criticism, I've never heard the President or any member of his administration say the "Mission Accomplished" event was someone else's idea or try to disown it in any way, and here's retired General Tommy Franks owning up to it in spite of not having to.

That's called accountability. It's also called leadership. It's one of the reasons George Bush is leading in the polls.

Posted by Solomon at 1:22 PM on Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004 | Comments (2)
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2 Comments

#1 Trey | October 20, 2004 1:11 AM

You don't remember anybody in the Administration trying to deny responsibility for the 'Mission Accomplished' sign???

Try looking for "denied 'Mission Accomplished sign'" in your favorite search engine!

For instance:
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http://www.factcheck.org/SpecialReports.aspx@docID=78.html

#2 Solomon | October 20, 2004 9:29 AM

I stand corrected. He did, in fact, explain where the idea came from. Of course I've also heard him defend it as the right thing to do, regardless of where it came from (as he should).