The challenge was "If you can find one respectable media source that confirms that it was the ship without any knowledge from the administration."
If you had read your own links you would have come across this: "ship’s crew asked for the sign and that THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF HAD IT MADE."
No apologies in order, however I will thank you for strengthening my point.
If you read not only the article "Bush proclaims end to major combat ops in Iraq," but the full text of his comments at the bottom as well, my case is made even stronger. Everything he talks about in the speech is in the past tense. He declared major combat over in Iraq!
Please thoroughly read what you suggested that I read. It is very clear that he and his advisers actually thought the war was over (mission accomplished?) and that all they had left to do was track down the last of the fleeing Baathists and establish a new government. Of course he regretted it later, what politician wouldn't regret that large of a mistake.
Drudge again: I would love to provide you with the Drudge article, unfortunately that was almost a year and a half ago. I no longer remember what the article was, only the circumstance. Why can I remember the circumstance and not the article? I rember because I used to check Drudge every once in a while and it was after coming across that article that I quit reading Drudge altogether.
