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In May of 1943, after the Allies had finally defeated Rommel and the Axis at Tunis after months of bitter fighting in North Africa (an Axis defeat that Goebbels privately called a "second Stalingrad"), General Omar Bradley sent a two-word message to General Dwight Eisenhower: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Other than the obligatory military parade down the main boulevard of Tunis (a parade that Ike did not think was appropriate, but the locals wanted it), there was no vainglorious strutting or crowing. There were no show-piece carrier landings or preening in cod-pieces. In fact, Patton and other generals had already started the training for an invasion of Sicily. Much, much more blood would flow, and Bradley and Eisenhower knew it.
I think that sixty years to the month after victory in North Africa, Bu$h and Rove were trying to channel Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower in a publicity stunt that actually reeked of plagiarism. In retrospect, "Shock 'N Awe" was - at best - a Pyrrhic victory: look at where we are now. But we knew then that the celebration was premature. Dogs and cats knew.
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