May – August 2003           The great public unraveling of administration pre-war claims continues. Purported weapons of mass destruction cached by Saddam continue not to be found. Intelligence and news reports gradually verify that indeed Saddam was not in league with Islamist fundamentalists, including Al-Qaeda, the only terrorist network that most U.S. journalists feel the public will recognize. No evidence supports the claim that Saddam was connected to 9/11. Meanwhile, as the destruction of Iraqi civil infrastructure and disbanding of army and police forces, along with uncontrolled looting of enormous caches of unsecured conventional weapons, give rise to violence in Iraq, the number and amounts of U.S. contracts for military and security work in Iraq also increase.

Meanwhile, the hot political news at home is a GOP effort to obliterate five Democratic seats in Texas through a special between-census redistricting. Maintaining or expanding a GOP majority in Congress in 2004 will entirely depend on this redistricting, which is ultimately successful, after the Justice Department and federal judges permit it, see later. During the process Texas Democratic state legislators leave the state to avoid a quorum for the procedure, pursued by Texas Rangers and apparently tracked by the Department of Homeland Security, and the Texas governor, a Bush political ally, has to call three special sessions of the state legislature.

May 1, 2003 – Bush, wearing a flight suit, gives a highly publicized presidential address on television from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The backdrop for the speech is a banner saying “Mission Accomplished.” Bush’s entrance, after being flown in on a fighter jet with voice-over narration by NBC’s Tom Brokaw, seems to be modeled on that of actor-President Bill Pullman in the 1996 popcorn movie Independence Day. Bush again refers to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and refers to Saddam--though not by name:
 

“We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. (Applause.)         

       The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq. (Applause.)”

Same day – Engineered Support Systems, Inc., the St.-Louis based corporation with William H. T. Bush on its board of directors, announces its acquisition of its Maryland subsidiary TAMSCO. A week later, TAMSCO announces that it has begun technology support for U.S. Army logistics operations in the Middle East, stating that this tech support began linking the U.S., Kuwait and Germany in February 2003.

May 2, 2003 – USA Today publishes an column by the administration-connected war hawk Richard Perle, titled “Relax, Celebrate Victory”:

“From start to finish, President Bush has led the United States and its coalition partners to the most important military victory since World War II. And like the allied victory over the axis powers, the liberation of Iraq is more than the end of a brutal dictatorship: It is the foundation for a decent, humane government that will represent all the people of Iraq.     

       This was a war worth fighting. It ended quickly with few civilian casualties and with little damage to Iraq's cities, towns or infrastructure. It ended without the Arab world rising up against us, as the war's critics feared, without the quagmire they predicted, without the heavy losses in house-to-house fighting they warned us to expect. It was conducted with immense skill and selfless courage by men and women who will remain until Iraqis are safe, and who will return home as heroes.   

       In full retreat, the war's opponents have now taken up new defensive positions: "Yes, it was a military victory, but you haven't found Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction." Or, "Yes, we destroyed Saddam's regime, but now other dictators will try even harder to develop weapons of mass destruction to make sure they will not fall to some future American preemptive strike."   

       We will find Saddam's well-hidden chemical and biological weapons programs, but only when people who know come forward and tell us where to look. While Saddam was in power, even a hint about his concealment and deception was a death sentence, often by unimaginable torture against whole families. Saddam had four years to hide things. We have had a few weeks to find them. Patience -- and some help from free Iraqis -- will be rewarded.”

May 3, 2003 – Wishing to recapture the magic, Bush reprises much of his May 1 speech in his weekly radio address. His talk contains much emphasis on victory and on a liberated Iraq, little emphasis on Iraqi WMD:

“Our coalition still has much work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime who will be held to account for their crimes. We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons at hundreds of locations. We are helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools for the people. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by and for the Iraqi people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy is hard, and will take time -- but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done, then we will leave -- and we will leave behind a free Iraq.”