whether or not the sign was created for the crew on that ship is pretty much besides the point. the broader sentiment expressed in that sign (the war is over!!) was more than evident in bush's rhetoric during that speech and later, and thats what people are really responding to. the sign could very well have never existed and the same criticisms would be just as present. this fundamentally isnt a controversy over some gaffe, some stupid sign, it runs much deeper than that.
the speech announced the "end of major combat operations." to read that for what it literally denotes is pure fantasy, because that wasnt how it was used. whats really important is the connotative meaning, which is that "the big, serious war stuff in iraq is over." mere reconstruction and the like isnt incompatible with this, but a 5 year long, brutal insurgency absolutely is.
so the phrase "mission accomplished" is now, due to the weight of the contradiction between that rosy sentiment and the reality of the war, just a symbol for all of the disingenuous media-management and deception by the bush administration with this war, and of the effective absence of a serious post-war plan. the short-sightedness of the bush administration has been one of the most defining features of this war, and all of the above can be referred to with "mission accomplished." that phrase used today is less about that particular sign (which just "branded" the event) than about the political bullshit and incompetance of the bush admin
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