Is that you Mulla Omar? It's hard for us to see through all of this protection.
Posted on 11/05/2003 9:51:58 PM PST by saquin
BY PAUL D. COLFORD AND CORKY SIEMASZKO New York Daily News
NEW YORK - (KRT) - Jessica Lynch was brutally raped by her Iraqi captors.
That is the shocking revelation in "I Am a Soldier, Too," the much-anticipated authorized biography of the former POW. A copy of the book was obtained by The New York Daily News on Wednesday.
Best selling author Rick Bragg tells Lynch's story for her, often using her own words. Thankfully, she has no memory of the rape.
"Jessi lost three hours," Bragg wrote. "She lost them in the snapping bones, in the crash of the Humvee, in the torment her enemies inflicted on her after she was pulled from it."
The scars on Lynch's battered body and the medical records indicate she was anally raped, and "fill in the blanks of what Jessi lived through on the morning of March 23, 2003," Bragg wrote.
"The records do not tell whether her captors assaulted her almost lifeless, broken body after she was lifted from the wreckage, or if they assaulted her and then broke her bones into splinters until she was almost dead."
The 207-page saga published by Knopf hits bookstores Tuesday, which is Veterans Day.
In it, America's most famous G.I. - for the first time since her dramatic rescue on April 1 - dispels some of the mystery surrounding the blistering battle that resulted in her capture, her treatment by the Iraqis in a hellish hospital, and the searing pain that is her constant companion.
A 20-year-old from the hollers of West Virginia, Lynch knew what could happen to her if she fell into Iraqi hands. A female pilot captured in the Persian Gulf War had been raped.
"Everyone knew what Saddam's soldiers did to women captives," Bragg wrote. "In (Lynch's) worst nightmares, she stood alone in that desert as the trucks of her own army pulled away."
The nightmare became real in the dusty and dangerous city of Nassiriyah, when Lynch's unit got separated from its convoy and was ambushed by Iraqi fighters.
Bragg, a former New York Times reporter who quit after admitting he had a legman do some of his reporting, gives a cinematic account of the desperate firefight that mortally wounded Lynch's Army buddy, Lori Piestewa, and 10 others in the convoy.
But while early Pentagon reports suggested the young Army private heroically resisted capture, Lynch told Bragg she never fired a shot, because her M-16 jammed. "I didn't kill nobody," she said.
Lynch also denied in the book claims by Iraqi lawyer Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief, who said he saw one of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's black-clad Fedayeen slap her as she lay in her hospital bed.
"Unless they hit me while I was asleep - and why do that?" she said.
Lynch described to Bragg how Iraqi doctors were branded "traitors" by Saddam's henchmen for helping her and how they tried to treat her wounds in a shattered hospital where painkillers were scarce. She said one nurse tried to ease her agony by singing to her.
"It was a pretty song," she said. "And I would sleep."
Lynch also confirmed reports in the book that Iraqi doctors tried to sneak her to safety in an ambulance but turned back when wary U.S. soldiers opened fire on them.
But eight days after she was captured, Lynch found herself face to face with a savior.
"Jessica Lynch," he said, "we're United States soldiers and we're here to protect you and take you home."
"I'm an American soldier, too," Lynch replied.
Lynch's painful recovery from an ordeal that left her barely able to walk, unable to use her right hand or control her bowels is vividly described. So, too, is Lynch's discomfort with the spotlight - and with being called a hero.
"I'm just a survivor," she said in the book. "When I think about it, it keeps me awake at night."
---
© 2003, New York Daily News.
Oh no, you just blame her for vehicle breakdowns in desert conditions, that's not bashing. /sarcasm
I've avoided getting into the details because there are so many areas where there are problems with her performance and how she was treated out there in the battlefield. Over and over again it can be shown that her Commander and NCOs treated her differently because she was a woman, and her actions/inactions/failures cost lives. I'm somewhat amused you all can't see them, but my amusement is tempered quite severely by the reality of the consequences of having Lynch in that unit.
And I'll say again that you have no credibility since you blamed her for vehicle breakdowns. You are simply a basher.
The story of the "Jessica's" unit in the 507th in this operation covers roughly three days. The ambush battle itself actually lasted over 2 hours. During the 507th's journey to various check points, Jessica's vehicle was disabled. It became disabled after days of driving with little or no sleep and when she was fatigued. The fatigue was not limited to Jessica or females, all experienced it, but I think it can be safely said that it was much more difficult for this 110 lb woman to wrestle with this fatigue and a 5-ton truck then it would be for a man.
These trucks don't have power-steering, huh? LOL
Nonetheless, the First Sergeant was ordered to recover this and any other vehicle that broke down as the convoy headed to various checkpoints. The First Sergeant, through all kinds of tricks, skill, chicanery, will, and with a no-failure attitude, carried out this order dutifully and arrived at each check point without abandoning any vehicles. To accomplish this, he had to get soldiers from another unit to tow Jessica's broken-down vehicle, Buggs and Aqino -who themselves had fallen behind their assigned unit to fix their own vehicle. This is were fate comes in. By towing this broken vehicle, it made it more difficult for the convoy to maneuver, and they had to find big open spaces to turn the towed vehicles around. This is the reason the convoy had to go deep into Nasiriyah when they got off track. The convoy actually made it through the city the first time without receiving fire, but the commander knew they were in for some action when they had to turn around and go back through the city the second time to get back on the right track. Jessica was ordered to lock and load as others had to manually refuel their vehicles. During the second trip through the city, the unit was attacked, and they missed their exit again, but the smaller vehicles were able to turn around quickly and get back to the exit and escape. However larger vehicles had to go further past the exit, about 3 miles, before they could turn around, and the Buggs and Aqino had to go the furthest because they were towing Jessie's vehicle. This turned out to be their downfall. As they were turning around, their vehicle became jammed and stuck because of vehicle they were towing, Jessica's. During all this, the vehicles in the convoy were taking fire. The First sergeant made combat pickup after combat pickup of all soldiers who needed picking up, and this is what he did for Buggs and Aquino. After Buggs and Aqino were picked up, they immediately begin returning fire from the assault rifle in the vehicle as it sped off. Very sadly though, Piestawaw was wounded as she drove away and crashed into another vehicle that had become stranded. The First Sergeant was killed on impact with his weapon in his hand, Piestawaw would later die from her injuries, Buggs and Aqino were said to have been "executed" by the Iraqis because of the battle they put up until they ran out of ammo. Jessica was injured in the crash, but she was spared. If it were not for her disabled vehicle, Buggs and Aqino, the First Sergeant, and Piestawaw could have turned around sooner and made it out of there, FATE.
Are you saying that Lynch should've been a tow truck driver?! I'm just not seeing in all this where is was Lynch's fault multiple vehicles broke down. You are a basher and you have no credibility because of it.
It depends on the ammo. The 223 is a bit small to actuate the AR15/M16. You need match ammo with good brass, higher powder loads, I think, if not the autoloading action wont work well. The 7.62 is so big, that is not a problem, apparently.
Is that you Mulla Omar? It's hard for us to see through all of this protection.
These trucks don't have power-steering, huh? LOL
You are a basher and you have no credibility because of it.
This is where your silliness and ignorance shows. You really don't have a clue what it takes to drive a 5-ton. When you get a chance, why don't try a test drive in one? I'm willing to bet you'll find it's not like a SUV. I'd love to joke with you all day, but the reality of what happened to this unit does not seem humorous to me. I know it's your aim to just argue on off tangent points. You want the story of a female war hero because you are a feminist, and you refuse to let the facts of the events stand in the way of your fanatical fantasy. You can continue to say what you will. I know the truth, and I will converse with those who want to prevent another tragedy like this one.
Yes, Hamilton, several people thought otherwise, and would flame anyone who suggested it was even possible. Why, Lynch was merely the survivor of a vehicle accident and was given a comfy hospital bed and that was that, they said. They even denied the fedayeen were at the hospital when they clearly were.
Having said that, I am against women in combat, and this is one reason why.
trouble is ..we don't ...
Like hell we don't, the problem is that women think that they can hack it in a combat zone.
Guess what? Women have NO place in a war zone other than as support for the man that pulls the trigger.
Oh please, I just saw a show about the biggest truck in the world, a CAT 767 (or something like that) and the driver said it drives easy as a car. That truck was in the hundreds of tons.
When you get a chance, why don't try a test drive in one?
Sure, maybe they have one at the National Guard here.
I'm willing to bet you'll find it's not like a SUV. I'd love to joke with you all day, but the reality of what happened to this unit does not seem humorous to me.
Yeah, you're trying to find any angle you can to blame Lynch for everything that went wrong that day. Hard work, requires a lot of stretching.
I know it's your aim to just argue on off tangent points. You want the story of a female war hero because you are a feminist, and you refuse to let the facts of the events stand in the way of your fanatical fantasy.
Umm, no. And where may I ask did you get that? I know, it's just another in a long list of things you make up out of thin air. What the hell, you have no credibility anyway. Might as well keep making up things. I've said several times men are better in the infantry.
You can continue to say what you will. I know the truth, and I will converse with those who want to prevent another tragedy like this one.
Ah, the truth like you just told above, that I'm a feminist who wants to have a female warrior, or whatever? Some truth. You just make up things that have no basis.
I take it you're not going to link me to the report that says that Buggs and Aquina were fighting and executed. I haven't seen that yet and would like to read it.
We used the draft in WWI and WWII and won both wars. You can provide no reasonable evidence that the casualties would have been any lighter had women been used, or an all volunteer force was used. Most platoon, company and battalion tactics call for merely the presence of someone who has the upper body strength to perservere, and do thing like throw a grenade farther than its blast radius.
There is no evidence from past experiments that indicate women in dangerous roles in combat, other than when they have to fight at the last ditch end (and then no evidence that their contrabution preveiled) produce positive results.
Our military has not proven itself vastly superior to all others with this set-up. This setup is entirely experimental, and contrary to what we know has worked in the past. Why do it for such chancey consequences and such a feeble possible return?
A strong military and personal choice and responsibility are conservative ideals, so my position definetly isn't liberal.
But what you are advocating is a weaker military, based on historical successes. Personal is choice is not a conservative concept. Just ask anyone who want to put certain substances in his body without permission. 
Ha, ha, hah... you just have to read the official report. But this could not be so: You mean you've been making all these posts besmirching the men who were attacked in the ambush of the 507th without reading the official report, yet I'm the one "making" up a story?
Here is an excerpt from the article we are discussing that states they cannot state with certainty how she sustained the injuries:
The scars on Lynch's battered body and the medical records indicate she was anally raped, and "fill in the blanks of what Jessi lived through on the morning of March 23, 2003," Bragg wrote.
"The records do not tell whether her captors assaulted her almost lifeless, broken body after she was lifted from the wreckage, or if they assaulted her and then broke her bones into splinters until she was almost dead."
Yes I do have the link. I'm trying to decide if I should give it to you know who, the one who says I'm making things up while not reading it himself/herself. I'll give it to you all in the next post or two or..., but it's so much fun to watch someone continue to comment without checking the facts.
Good post. How does one become a symbol? She was chosen. Consider the possibility that it was choreographed by the agenda driven PC bunch bent willie left behind in the DoD, rooted on by the airhead media cheerleaders(or maybe vice versa). Why should a teenaged girl in the military be placed on such a high pedestal? She did nothing exemplary as far as I know.
Jessica Lynch likely endured inhumane treatment at the hands of her captors and I sympathize, but I suspect so have many others....mostly young men. I wonder how they feel about this circus? A good morale booster for our fighting men? I don't think so. It's pure PC crap any way you cut it.
Leave the women at home to keep the fires burning.
FGS
What petty agenda would that be sweetie?
FGS
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