Do we want another Jessica Lynch?

ESR ^ | November 24, 2003 | Kimberley Jane Wilson

[Terp]

After forcing myself to read Jessica Lynch's book I've come to the conclusion that this country needs to have a talk -- an honest, no holds barred, to-heck-with-brain-numbing-political correctness, talk with itself. Do women belong in combat situations or not?

This is a no brainer. No discussion required!

[Paul_B]

So does Pat Schroeder.

[Halleck]

Sorry, Chief...but Lynch was never a PW...not in a civilian hospital...and remember...no resistance during the "daring", MTV crew military PA corps smashing of doors?
Purple, maybe...POW/BS w V...never!
38 posted on 11/26/2003 11:17 PM PST by NMFXSTC

Yu scatter things about there and misconstrue a lot..but...a film crewZ??? Gimme a friggin break, Bro! Ever been in comabt?To banter the rest is useless...OK, Lynch is a POW, heroine, whatever...she jus don't friggin' remeber (and neither does anyone else!
52 posted on 11/29/2003 1:22 AM PST by NMFXSTC

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DOOD, U be so smart! I can't beleive U figered it out so ez! Now I see it clear like cuz u showed me so good.

Jessica Lynch problem be she blond, so she git lost and confuzed alot. She got lost on her way to college and end up at Army instead, but she blond, so she thought she was at college. So when March came, she take off to Spring Break in Florida. But then she git lost again and end up in Irak. She crooz around Irak in her doon buggy lookin fer the beech and she crash into sum pour fedayeens mindin their bizniz ambushin Americans and she bust them up they go to hospital, she go to jail for dui. The US Special Forces bust her out of jail, then they beat her up and break her bones and rape her and take her to the hospital where they killed all the doktors and nurses and patience and hired extras from hollywould to star in the rescue movie. It all so clear to me now thanx to u so smartly show me the trooth!

[Cronos]

No one says that individual women can't be great warriors, but face facts, the guys will always instinctively protect the women and put themselves in danger, maybe endangering the entire troop.

[Cronos]

We recently had some american soldiers (male) marrying IRqi women. There wasn't much hue and cry about that, but imagine if they were women marrying Irqi MEN.

[Cronos]

BEsides planning, supply lines, medical staff etc. DO DO heroic work. They are AS important as combatants.

[Cronos]

I can't believe we think our "system" is a model for the world. We try to convince the Islamic world to emulate us, and they recoil with horror at our decadence. Are they wrong

Exactly, thanks to the Episcopal thingies (I refuse to call them a church)

[rabidralph]

I don't think women should be in combat, or exposed to it. Not because SOME are not capable, but because of the disruption to the effective functioning of the military.

I find men rolling grenades into the officers' tent to be more disruptive to the effective functioning of the military.

[Tax-chick]

I'm sure. Earthquakes are more disruptive, too. Your point was?

[#3Fan]

I'm not sure I want the old Jessica Lynch.

Typical of Lynch-bashers.

[#3Fan]

Let's "assume" that every bit of that text is true (Lynch is no help in any of that, since she "cannot recall" anything...yet has enough memory and information to authorize a book?)

It was her doctors that said she couldn't remember anything and that was to get the media off her back during part of her recovery.

Let's accept POW status (which canot be confirmed, even by the shaky renditions in this text...no enemy seen nor encountered...lotta "spin" room, eh?)

If she wasn't a POW why wasn't the American military invited to pick her up?

And let's even accept the "she was standing when she surrendered" thing, and that the injuries were clearly combat related (though, in my 22 months in the bush in RVN as a medic, I evacuated a lotf of grunts with immersion foot, dehydration, malaria, and a host of other conditions that could easily be related to combat scenarios, yet none of them received a PH). So, let's accept the PH and POW medals...please, please explain the Bronze Star with "V"...I'm afraid that one is bogus (she did not return fire, use a knife, get shot...none of that...and the medical evidence clearly confirms that). What acts of valor did this gal do?

You've just proven that you don't know what you're talking about because Lynch didn't get the V device. lol

I think the more important question here (forget Lynch entirely here) is: are women in combat a good idea? I have no problem with that! However; the serious question is: are we depending upon a reserve and guard force of poorly trained (for the missions assigned), ill equipped (we still have troops without body armor), and being assigned "missions" that ae far removed from their primary MOS? (Recall that even the soldier who returned fire and was awarded a Silver Star said his weapon jammed repeatedly...but that same weapon, used by each and every Marine in the country, posed no problem for the USMC! You see, Lynch is just an icon to a more perplexing condition...that of sending troops on missions they are not trained to conduct because our warrior trigger pullers are spread too thin. Even the Silver Star winner admits he had not fired his weapon in almost a year before this engagement. Face it...we will never know the real deal on Lynch, but we clearly know that a rear echelon supply clerk is not a trained truck convoy driver. Why send these folks on this sort of mission (getting lost is not an option!) Could that be just a little career enhancement for the senior folks to load up on performance reports?

You gotta be kidding with that question. You think military hardware runs by itself with no maintenance?

Getting lost, seperated, jamming weapons, etc., etc. surely indicate lack of training and leadership, don't yu agree? That being evident, the spin of a heroine, victim, etc. just make a nice diversion from the facts....that our reliance on part time soldiers makes no sense!

If you knew what you were talking about you would know that she wasn't in charge of navigation and therefore wasn't the one that got the convoy to take a wrong turn.

[#3Fan]

she jus don't friggin' remeber (and neither does anyone else!)

She never said she didn't remember, her doctors did, and that was to get trhe media to leave her alone during part of her recovery.

[#3Fan]

I didn't want the first one.

Do you feel the same about O'Grady and Anderson?

[#3Fan]

It will take some truly horrific events on some near future battlefield to muster enough of the public's revulsion to change attitudes.

And that will never happen.

[#3Fan]

Jessica Lynch problem be she blond, so she git lost and confuzed alot. She got lost on her way to college and end up at Army instead, but she blond, so she thought she was at college. So when March came, she take off to Spring Break in Florida. But then she git lost again and end up in Irak. She crooz around Irak in her doon buggy lookin fer the beech and she crash into sum pour fedayeens mindin their bizniz ambushin Americans and she bust them up they go to hospital, she go to jail for dui. The US Special Forces bust her out of jail, then they beat her up and break her bones and rape her and take her to the hospital where they killed all the doktors and nurses and patience and hired extras from hollywould to star in the rescue movie. It all so clear to me now thanx to u so smartly show me the trooth!

LOL

[johnb838]

HEre I go weighing in on this again.

1) Lori got a mountain named after her.

2) Shoshana dropped the ball on New Years Eve in NYC. I hope she's getting financial help, she certainly needs it.

2a) Television will always focus on the photogenic.

3) Jessica is far from rich and she, as you know, is still severely disabled.

4) I don't think she likes the "fame" at all, I think she's quite shy. I think she is emotionally unsuited to play the lightning rod role that has been thrust upon her.

5) I heard the lawyer (Odeh?) say that they are indeed planning to meet as soon as it is possible without the media in attendance.

6) I think she is a hero only in the sense that they all are -- they went and did their jobs in difficult circumstances. I don't know if she "deserved" the Bronze Star or not but she didn't put in for it herself. Probably wishes she hadn't gotten it now.

7)I think it is right to be angry at the situation itself without blaming this kid that got caught in the middle of it.

8) LEt us remember is was the FEMINAZIs, the MILITARY/AMERICA HATERS, and the CLINTONIANS that brought us to this point.

To answer your question, no, I don't think we are emotionally at a point where we can accept our youg women being brutalized in combat. It is just too hard on everyone's morale. And it always will be, I hope.

[cyncooper]

Lynch was never "captured" by an enemy...she was taken to the hospital by civilians, treated by civilians and "rescued" (without any resistance) from a hospital (where the film crew had time to interview her caretakers, including a pharmacist!)

That is not correct. You also clearly missed the propaganda film that was made of Lynch and Johnson that MSNBC and NBC showed several times right before Christmas or New Year's. There were fedayeen at that hospital, who, yes, fled mere hours before the soldiers arrived to remove Lynch from the premises.

[cyncooper]

She was taken to the so-called "civilian hospital" which was in fact also an HQ for Fedayeen and Iraqi Intel. This is consistent with the Iraqi's practice of using "civilian" facilities such as hospitals and schools as cover. When the rescue team extracted Lynch, they also found at the "hospital" the bodies of her mistreated and executed fellow soldiers (which they dug up by hand), weapons, maps, a sand table for planning military operations and a makeshift torture device consisting of a metal bed frame with the springs of a matresss and a large truck battery with attached metal prods. Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/970888/posts?page=91#91

This "hospital" was in the control of Iraqi forces untill the day before Lynch was rescued. Even the BBC hit piece which complained that the rescue was unneceessary acknowledes that the Fedayeen had fled the hospital the day before the rescue.

Highlighting

[cyncooper]

You are a font of DISinformation and one must wonder why you are out to dissemenate such.

FR is a place for FACT, not propaganda.