Under an enormous banner that read "Mission Accomplished" and wearing a Navy flight suit, the President addressed the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

"The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on," he said.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) this morning called the claim "a symbol for his reckless handling of the Iraq war."

Lautenberg is runnning for reelection this year against challenger U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, a Camden County Democrat.

"America has lost more than 3,900 troops and is now spending $3 billion a week on the war," Lautenberg said in a statement. "This is not 'mission accomplished'. This is a mission gone awry."

"There is no more telling symbol of President Bush's disastrous mismanagement of the Iraq war," said Andrews, who supported the Bush administration's Iraq policy until 2006. "Like almost all of his public pronouncements since, the President's 'Mission Accomplished' statement was a blatant attempt to sell a bill of goods to the American people regarding the war. He mislead the nation then regarding the war, and he continues trying to mislead us now."

Yesterday, the White House expressed regret and said the banner had been misinterpreted.

"President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said 'mission accomplished for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission," said press secretary Dana Perino. "We have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner."

Now it its sixth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of at least 4,061 servicemen. Last month, 49 U.S. troops died, making it the deadliest month since September, when 65 perished there.

Only the Vietnam War (August 1964 to January 1973), the ongoing skermish in Afghanistan (October 2001 to present), and the Revolutionary War (April 1775 to April 1783) have engaged the country longer.

The event on the USS Abraham Lincoln was criticized by Bush opponents at the time as a theatrical stunt.

Bush, who flew jets in Texas for the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, piloted a Navy jet and landed on the warship.

The carrier was homebound after a 10-month mission, but floated only 30 miles off the coast of California and was well within range of the the presidential helicopter, critics said.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.