Bush Says He Regrets Standing in Front of ‘Mission Impossible’ Banner

Whoops! Some six years after performing his infamous “Top Gun”-inflected “Mission Accomplished” press stunt aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, former President George W. Bush let fly with quite a telling gaffe during a talk he gave Thursday to the Montreal Board of Trade. — KA

The Vancouver Sun:

Bush defended his decisions to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and to bail out Wall Street with taxpayers’ money.

Asked whether he would reconsider any of his decisions, Bush brought up his failure to complete immigration and social security reform and his handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis in 2005.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about Katrina, and whether I could have sent in the federal troops right away, even though it was against the law,” he said.

While Bush’s speech was mostly eloquent and free of the language gaffes he admits he is famous for, he said he regretted appearing in front of a “Mission Impossible” sign during a televised address in 2003. The controversial banner referring to the U.S. mission in Iraq, actually said “Mission Accomplished.”

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