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Two very different May days

Editor, Index-Tribune:

 

Not quite a decade apart, two decidedly different May Days took place.

On May 1, 2003, President Bush strode across the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, dressed in his flying suit, to proclaim under the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner that "major hostilities in Iraq are over." At that time we had lost 137 troops - you do the math.

After 9/11, Bush had proclaimed that we would find Osama bin Laden and "smoke 'im out, run 'im to ground, bring him back dead or alive." Cowboyspeak: All hat and no cattle.

May 1, 2011, President Obama slays the dragon, after proclaiming that if bin Laden was found to be in Pakistan and the Pakistanis wouldn't give him up, that we would go in and do the job. He did just what he said he would do. Mission Accomplished. Big hat and lots of cattle - the awe-inspiring Navy Seals. A much more satisfying May Day.

 Bob Collin

Sonoma