For Immediate Release
April 30, 2008

ONE DAY TO MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: SUNUNU SPINS THE IRAQ WAR

Sununu matches Bush/Cheney rhetoric, profoundly misunderstands Iraqi political climate

(Manchester, NH) - In August 2003, five months after the beginning of the Iraq war, John E. Sununu still misunderstood the social and political climate in Iraq so badly that he proclaimed we were "winning the hearts and minds" of Iraqis. One year later, even the Pentagon had to admit that the struggle for hearts and minds had not only failed, it had caused an anti-American backlash.

"John Sununu's distortions and misperceptions of the war in Iraq show that he either intends to deceive the people of New Hampshire, or that he misunderstands the nature of the war so badly it constitutes negligence," said Alex Reese, press secretary for the NHDP's Coordinated Campaign. "For the last five years, Sununu's approach has been to ignore the facts and simply repeat Bush talking points. New Hampshire needs a Senator who is more than a Bush parrot."

Sununu

US Winning the Hearts and Minds of Iraqis, August 2003
On MSNBC in August 2003, John Sununu and Chris Matthews had the following exchange:

"MATTHEWS: Are we winning their hearts and minds?
SUNUNU: I think so."
[MSNBC Hardball, 8/26/03]

Reality

Pentagon Admitted "The Struggle for Hearts and Minds" Failed, December 2004
"The Pentagon has admitted that the war on terror and the invasion and occupation of Iraq have increased support for al-Qaeda, made ordinary Muslims hate the US and caused a global backlash against America because of the 'self-serving hypocrisy' of George W Bush's administration over the Middle East... On 'the war of ideas or the struggle for hearts and minds', the report says, 'American efforts have not only failed, they may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended.'"  [Sunday Herald, 12/26/04]

Mission Accomplished

John E. Sununu has been one of the most steadfast supporters of George Bush's Iraq war ever since its beginning more than five years ago. On many occasions, Sununu has joined Bush in misrepresenting and greatly exaggerating progress in the war in order to deceive the American people into believing that we were near to success.

Thursday, May 1, marks the fifth anniversary of the most infamous instance of many such exaggerations and distortions: Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in which he declared the end of combat missions in Iraq. This week is an opportunity to examine more than five years' worth of Sununu's deceptions, distortions and misrepresentations on the Iraq war.