Posted on 05/20/2003 3:37:47 PM PDT by joesnuffy
I had heard that. About a week or so after she’d been rescued, there was a news conference during which a journalist asked what had happened to her. The guy (not Rumsfield) responded that investigations were ongoing and he had no info, etc.
The next day Lee Rodgers (KSFO) was griping about the question, basically saying that the journalists should quit asking stupid questions and let her recuperate in peace. Then a retired Army officer called in. He claimed that his active-duty son told him that the Army knew everything that had happened during her capture within 48 hours of her rescue. They knew everything, and it was promptly classified. All of it.
He claimed that the Army wouldn’t be talking, she wouldn’t be talking, and nobody else would be talking about it either.
But then again, it WAS just some old anonymous guy calling up a radio show with a comment. I wondered how it would play out. Especially since in the meantime it has reported that she “couldn’t remember” any details about being captured and detained.
I haven’t heard anything else until reading this. Not that I need all the gory details…
What else could we be spending that money on, and why wouldn't he come out and say that if he knows it it true?
Maybe it's because he's making this all up, like he makes everything else up.
Reading Hackworth is always a guessing game, of sorts. Is he suggesting that his old buddies the Viet Cong armed with RPG's would be a better model for our millitary than our high tech, heavily armed, Rumsfeld doctrine forces of today? Did he overlook the minor little fact that Iraqi LOST this war in a matter of three weeks? And that was done with an almost unprecidentedly low rate of colateral damage and non combatat deaths via a planned and deliberate policy of avoiding civilian casualties as often as was possible? Could it be that ANYTHING ANYONE EVER DID regarding the military is suspect in his eyes, because he wasn't asked to consult? Hackworth, the Egowarrior!
Probably one of the reasons for the secrecy is so that those chomping at the bits to make a movie (and there was already one planned), or book deals will back off. I'm assuming that the former POWS are sworn to secrecy on what happened. If I were the parents/spouse of one of those that were killed, I'd much prefer to find out what happened to them from the government's findings than from a newspaper article. After what occurred in Somalia and the video showing our dead soldiers being dragged through the streets, I'm more in line with the secrecy aspect of it as well...at least until all the facts are in and those involved are back to whatever normal life they will be able to have. I'm sure the story will be told down the road, but it won't be quick enough for some.
By what, AK47 rounds and rocks??
That’s possible.
All I know is that within a week or so of her rescue, someone that claimed to know things called up a radio station and claimed that the Army classified the details of her capture and imprisonment.
Anybody can call up and claim to be anyone and say pretty much anything. It has happened before.
Meanwhile, I thought it was interesting because my mom’s cousin was briefly captured in Burma years ago and every paper in his hometown published every detail they could get. They got pretty much everything. I thought it was strange that people were being captured and the details were classified now.
In the meantime, I read an article on FR where it was reported that she couldn’t remember any details. The article distinguished between amnesia (where you forgot memories) and whatever she supposedly has (memories never develop to be forgotten). Somebody else probably read it and can verify that.
I thought that was interesting as well. It plays into the prior claim by the caller (that she’s not going to be talking). I’ve also not read/heard anything else, which sort of implies that the Army isn’t talking either. They could be not talking for a variety of reasons. They never existed to answer my questions anyway – Hackworth’s either, for that matter.
Trust me; it’s not a big deal (to me). I’m willing to wait 2, 5, or 15 more years to see whether anything else gets reported on this incident… I don’t know about the other (armored vehicle) claims.
He throws in just enough credible "pearls" to differentiate himself from Ritter and to keep folks from mumbling "whatever has happened to good ole Hack?".
He's an aging military has-been still dressing in macho special-ops black turtlenecks.
We have the marvelous opportunity to read his articles regularly only because he's handy for the lib media to have around to stick it to the USA.
Leni
I think a few M1s were taken out with AT-14 hits to the engine compartment, which seems to be the most vulnerable area. Others were knocked out of action by DOZENS of RPG hits in massive ambushes. In every instance, the crew inside the tank survived, and made it out, even if the tank was trashed. This is world-class survivability.
I just hope we don't give up all the M1s in the name of "lighter, faster, and easier to kill with a cheap RPG". Let the MPs have Strykers so they can accompany "soft" supply convoys coming up from the rear. I want future bad guys to know that seeing our M1s means invulnerability for us, and certain death for them. We aren't over there to give them a "sporting chance" with a Stryker.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.