The infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech by President Bush is a relic of American history. It was given years before the US pulled out from Iraq, and it has been regarded as one of the most absurd victory speeches ever.
We might have another example of political folly that is similar to the one caused by premature announcements. This is President Biden’s claim about the supply chain battle being “won.” Maybe he’ll fly on one of the cargo vessels stuck outside LA harbor and declare “mission accomplished.”
As America enters the Christmas season, Biden stated that the supply chain was in ” very good shape“. Biden stated that it wasn’t luck. We avoided potential crises by first identifying the problem and then bringing people together to fix it.
He then dismissed claims of empty shelves and stores around the nation, boldly declaring that “For the vast majority of the country that’s not what’s happening” and that “Because of the actions the administration has taken in partnership with business and labor, retailers and grocery stores, freight movers and railroads, those shelves are going to be stocked.”
This would be great as the supply chain crisis has made it difficult for both stores to stock shelves and consumers to purchase food and goods at stores across the country.
The idea of Americans being stuck outside in Soviet-style bread lines is not something that anyone would want to do. It would be a welcome victory.
Biden’s declaration of “mission accomplished”, like that of President Bush, is just not true.
Biden made it clear that there was a 40% drop in the number of containers waiting to be unloaded at LA harbor. This port is a vital one that offloads approximately 40% of all goods entering America.
This is a good step forward, but not enough to declare victory. After all, a huge number of ships still wait to load their goods despite a 40% reduction. Even if there were 100 ships waiting, 60 would still mean that 60 ships are waiting outside the port. This will waste time and delay the delivery of some perishable goods.
Furthermore, the 40% figure given isn’t even accurate.
Biden and Seroka are correct that the number of ships at anchor or loitering has decreased — but only for those vessels within 40 miles of the ports.
Overall, the logjam of cargo ships remains as severe as ever. The reason why is simple: Since last month, a new queuing system has encouraged and led many ships to move outside of the ports’ 40-mile zone to a Safety and Air Quality Area (SAQA) that extends 150 miles to the west of the ports and 50 miles to the north and south.
[…]The sharply reduced count of 44 ships anchored offshore includes only those ships waiting within the 40-mile zone as of midday Tuesday, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California. American Shipper estimated that there were another 50 container ships waiting outside the SAQA, making for a total of 94 ships.
This is just a small sample of the goods that are expected to move through LA. After they are offloaded, they must be moved around the country. This is not helped by Biden’s demand that all truckers get immunized. Many truckers claim they will refuse.
There has not been a victory. There are still many ships in LA waiting, but they are spread out more. There are still questions about how fast the goods can be delivered once they’re offloaded. Biden’s “mission accomplished”, the speech will be remembered as a lie, just like Bush’s speech about the aircraft carrier.
