McCain's 'Mission' banner censure doubted

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Democrats say they question the truthfulness of U.S. Sen. John McCain's remarks critical of the "Mission Accomplished" banner regarding the war in Iraq.

"To state the obvious, I thought it was wrong at the time," McCain, R-Ariz., said of the banner that appeared behind U.S. President George Bush aboard the deck of USS Lincoln in May 2003.

The veracity of statement was placed in doubt Thursday when the Democratic National Committee revealed a video of McCain talking positively about the banner during a Fox News interview in June 2003, ABC News reported.

In the Fox interview, McCain said banner supported his contention that major fighting ended in Iraq and post-conflict hearings by the Senate Armed Services Committee would be appropriate.

When told many people argued the conflict wasn't over, McCain asked his interviewer, "Why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?"

He said in the 2003 interview reconstruction of Iraq would be a "long, long, difficult process," while maintaining the "the major conflict is over (and) the regime change has been accomplished."