Mission Still Not Accomplished

Five years ago today, our commander-in-chief spoke from the deck of the aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

We were told Iraq was aiding and abetting al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden is still at large.
We were told we would be greeted as liberators. Instead our troops are resented by millions of Iraqis.
We were told that Saddam Hussein was preparing to deploy weapons of mass destruction. The evidence used to bolster that claim never materialized.
We were told that by toppling Saddam Hussein, we would set in motion forces of freedom and democracy that would transform the region. But earlier this year, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad entered Baghdad in a triumphant procession. Bush and Cheney require an armed escort when they visit Baghdad.
Later, after things got messy, we were told that the insurgency was in its last throes. Instead, we find ourselves in the midst of a bloody sectarian conflict that has little to do with our national interest.Five years after his victory dance on an aircraft carrier, our presence in Iraq underscores our weakness in the region and around the world.