The "mission" was their (the USS Lincoln) deployment to the Persian Gulf and not the war.
Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn
Bush's only "mission" on that particular day was to "photo op" his way around the deck of the Abe wearing a Naval Aviator's flight suit. The only other image that I can recall that looked equally idiotic was Governor Dukakis emerging from the tank in 1988. Both images were an embarrassment.
Fortunately, Obama ended the mistake in Iraq, without wearing a naval aviator's flight suit. He soon refocused the attention of the American government back to the perpetrators of 9/11, where it should have been all along.
As a result OBL sleeps with the fishes, where he belongs. And that's a good thing!