On 1 May 2003 a jet carrying George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, just returned to California from Iraq. Standing in front of a carefully placed banner announcing ‘Mission Accomplished’, Bush gave a speech declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
It would later emerge that every aspect of this scene had been worked out in advance by the White House media-rigger Scott Sforza. The jet, which made a dramatic tailhook landing, was quite unnecessary. The aircraft carrier had been turned to place open sea rather than San Diego in the background. As for the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner, the embarrassment this has since caused the White House indicates that scene-shifting can fail.
See TV coverage here» Read Wikipedia article here» Read Mediamatters coverage»
Post a Comment
*