(AP) The phrase ``Mission Accomplished'' may have haunted the Bush administration for the past half a decade, but as the banner's anniversary approaches the White House is trying to clear away the controversy.
Five years ago Thursday, President Bush stood in the shadow of the banner that has become a symbol of U.S. misjudgments in Iraq on an aircraft carrier.
The president proclaimed that, ``Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,'' and said ``The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Septemper 11th, 2001, and still goes on.''
White House press secretary Dana Perino says the president recognizes that ``the banner should have been much more specific.'' Perino claims the ``Mission Accomplished'' referred to the sailors who were on the ``ship on their mission.'' She says the White House has ``certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner.''