http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051407A.shtmlBill Moyers: Yes, the war was over, the winner was George W. Bush, hailed by the press as a conquering hero.
Chris Matthews (Hardball): "He won the war, he was an effective commander, everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics."
Lou Dobbs (CNN): "He looked like alternately Commander in Chief, rock star, movie star and one of the guys."
Tom Brokaw (NBC): "Here, now, is the President of the United States as he walks across the deck with 2000 sailors and officers on board for his address to the nation on the recently completed war in Iraq."
President George W. Bush: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."
Bill Moyers: By this point - 140 U.S. troops had died during the mission.
But back in Iraq, reality was writing the script.
Every day since that choreographed victory lap, violent act has followed violent act.
This April was the cruelest month of the year. The deadliest so far.
Even the supposedly protected heart of American power in Baghdad, The Green Zone, was shattered by an al Qaeda attack. Al Qaeda was not a presence in Iraq before the mission but it has a firm foothold there now.
Entering its fifth year, the war's costs are soaring so fast the Web site costofwar.com uses a non-stop digital counter to keep up with the spending. In today's dollars, it's projected to become the most expensive war in recent history - reaching nearly one-trillion dollars.