Donald Trump used an old George W. Bush phrase and it backfired badly

President Donald Trump has praised the precision air strike on Syria on Friday night, along with British and French forces, as a "mission accomplished."

The combined forces of the three nations were targetting locations believed to be production and storage sites for chemical weapons that have allegedly been used by the Assad regime.

Trump's words, specifically "Mission Accomplished" echo those spoken by George W Bush in May 2001 on board the USS Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Iraq War.

As Bush addressed troops on board the aircraft carrier a banner, clad in the stars and stripes could be seen behind the then POTUS reading the words "Mission Accomplished."

This was shortly into the Iraq War when it appeared that US and British forces were making good progress in their efforts to topple Saddam Hussein.

It wasn't until December 2011 that US forces finally left Iraq, leaving behind a bloody legacy in the Middle East that cost thousands of lives and heightened tensions in the region.

Given the uncertainty of Trump's overnight actions and what it could lead to, people have been pointing out the eerie similarity between Trump's words and the Iraq conflict.

That last tweet literally comes from Bush's former White House Press Secretary.

Bush did eventually go on to regret being associated with those words admitting to US News and World Report in that it sent out the wrong message.

Clearly, putting a ‘mission accomplished’ on an aircraft carrier was a mistake

It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently but nevertheless, it conveyed a different message.

HT Daily Dot

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