Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Echoing former President Bush’s oft-mocked Iraq War speech, President Trump on Saturday declared “mission accomplished” following what he described as a “perfectly executed” strike against Syria late Friday. “Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result,” he wrote on Twitter. The U.S., France, and the UK fired more than 100 missiles at Syrian targets in response to a suspected chemical attack last week. The president initially presented the move as the start of a “sustained” effort by the U.S. and its allies but U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis later said the airstrikes were a “one-time shot.” Trump’s decision to hit Syria has prompted fears of a prolonged conflict in the region, and his “mission accomplished” declaration comes shortly after he promised to pull U.S. troops out of the country. Former President George W. Bush famously declared the end of major U.S. combat operations in Iraq in 2003 under a “Mission Accomplished” banner only to see U.S. combat deaths soar as the war continued for nearly another decade.