'Mission accomplished': When George W Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln

He climbed onto a podium to declare Operation Iraqi Freedom as “a job well done”

AP Photo

In May 2003, George W Bush, then US president, landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln in the co-pilot's seat of a Navy fighter jet to give a televised address to his nation.  

He climbed onto a podium to declare Operation Iraqi Freedom "a job well done". His troops had deposed Saddam Hussein's regime. A banner hovered over his head as he made this speech. It read "Mission Accomplished".

“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” he said. “In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

As everyone knows, this was an unpopular war, and has left a significant, lingering negative impact in its wake. Another picture of Mr Bush from that day shows him wearing a green flight suit and holding a white helmet, saluting those on deck. It is perhaps more famous. This one, however, encapsulates how overly theatrical the moment was.