Iraqis raped Lynch during her captivity, book reveals

NY Daily News ^

[jaykay]

I just don't understand why she wouldn't see (and thank) Al-Rehaief when he went to her town to see her recently.

THAT is the first post in this thread? That's ALL you can think of? You read an article about the HELL this young woman went through and THAT is what you're worried about? How about you go to the Baath Party House and get the Jessica Special and see how much you want to meet another Iraqi when you get back?

[jaykay]

"So much for all those here over the last few months that were saying she got "excellent care" by the Iraqis. Amazing they could give the Iraqis that much credit..."

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.

This is bad. It confirms something I had heard from someone at Landstuhl, that Jessica had to have a partial colostomy because her rectum and intestines were severly burned, likely due to rape with a hot iron. I had been hoping that they were wrong, especially since that was the least terrible part of the story.

[jaykay]

There were 15 soldiers killed in a helicopter shootdown not 2 days ago. In 2 more days it will be old news. What makes Jessica's situation any more newsworthy than that story? Because she is a female?

If it's not interesting, why are you posting on this thread? The fact that you are posting on this thread is proof that her story is interesting enough to report on. The market rules what's reported.

I guess there is no thread for the chinook shoot down. Maybe ForGod'sSake should post one, for god's sake.

Well, I'm off to find a thread about apples so I can post comments about oranges in it.

[R. Scott]

Infantry soldiers are given the time to properly maintain their weapons. They are given ammunition for practice firing. The M-16 is their number one piece of equipment and they are not only allowed but encouraged to maintain it.
Support units are a different story. Jessica’s unit had as their number one piece of equipment a contact truck. The M-16 was just something they had to drag along.
In the support units I was in our M-16s were locked up in an arms room for a year at a time.
Once a year we drew our weapon for qualification at the range. Our “training ammo” consisted of nine rounds – to zero the sights. We did have a full time armorer charged with maintenance, but the individual soldier was not allowed access.
The only other time we had access was for field training exercises. We were issued the weapon, played in the woods and returned them to the arms room.
In this case I see the soldiers carrying their weapon into the desert. Sandstorms were prevalent at the time and undoubtedly fouled many of the weapons. Weapons maintenance was not the priority – vehicle maintenance was. Support Company Commanders in general put all resources into their primary job – supporting the combat troops. Self defense is way down the list of priorities and support troops pay when under fire.

[Chief_Joe]

"In (Lynch's) worst nightmares, she stood alone in that desert as the trucks of her own army pulled away."

What is that suppose to mean?

Most of what this article says about the ambiguity in how she sustained her injuries is BS. The official report unequivocally states she received these injuries, other then those from the rape, from the crash she in which she was involved. She was also knocked unconscious in this crash. It's sad to hear what happened to her afterwards, but it's clear to me from the article they're putting in this ambiguity to play up her "heroism" angle.

[R. Scott]

It sound as though prior to possible combat operations you should be required to load up all your magazines and fire your weapon as though you were in a fire fight to see how your weapon is going to function. This might solve the problem, along with consistant weapons maintenence.

This occurs in combat arms units, but rarely in combat support units.
Prior to my retirement the basic combat load for a support soldier was 100 rounds. Any test firing would come from that supply, as resupply was based on expected expenditure – and support troops are not expected to expend any ammo.
When my company in Viet Nam – an Army boat company – experienced heavy combat during Tet ’68 in the far North of I Corp we had to scrounge ammo from the Navy.

[BlackbirdSST]

Nothing like sending teenage girl's out to do your fighting for you! Blackbird.

[jaykay]

How does getting the hell beat out of her play up the heroism angle? Plenty of people get their a$$es kicked and I've never heard of them claiming that it made them a hero. Now if the story had said that she had done unto them...

[Chief_Joe]

Support units are a different story. Jessica’s unit had as their number one piece of equipment a contact truck. ...Weapons maintenance was not the priority – vehicle maintenance was. Support Company Commanders in general put all resources into their primary job – supporting the combat troops.

This is another part of this story that's bothered me because it again illustrates why she shouldn't have been there in the first place. Many people think women can be placed in these positions in the military because anybody can drive a truck, right? But these support troops are not just driving trucks: they're supporting units. It take tremendous amount of physical strength and stamina to replenish and supply these units while still maintaining your vehicles. Jessie failed to take care of her vehicle during this mission.

[jaykay]

Nothing like sending teenage girl's out to do your fighting for you!

We've all seen the news footage from war torn third world countries with little boys carrying rifles bigger than they are. I guess that will be the next step for us.

[Chief_Joe]

How does getting the hell beat out of her play up the heroism angle? Plenty of people get their a$$es kicked and I've never heard of them claiming that it made them a hero. Now if the story had said that she had done unto them...

I feel for Jessie for what she suffered after she was captured, but this does not mean I'm going to give her a pass based on her performance on the battlefield. I'm concerned about doing what's right to put the best unit on the field to accomplish the mission, not feeding the adventurous fantasies of women. I don't blame Jessie for being put in the situation, but we need to take note of what happened here and make the necessary changes henceforth.

[GOPJ]

I will pray for Jessica Lynch.

[helen crump]

Have you ever been raped? If not, that might be a hasty thought.

[#3Fan]

Iraqis abuse POWs and use the Geneva Conventions for toilet paper. Not news to anyone who pays attention. They did the same to POWs, male and female in Gulf War 1.

Very true.

[Boot Hill]

I've looked and have been unable to find a single link to substantiate this. But I do have a clear memory of reading news reports about this a few months after the release of our 23 POW's at the end of the Persian Gulf War. Since such info would most likely have to come from military medical personnel and military debriefings, its disclosure would have been a crime and a great personal embarrassment to those former POW's. This might be the reasons those stories were pulled.

--Boot Hill

[#3Fan]

I don't think you have to go to DU to be made ill.

[jaykay]

How does getting the hell beat out of her play up the heroism angle?

you don't answer that question, but you do bring up some other interesting questions.

Some snips from http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/7/18/162538.shtml:

At least one journalist sought access to enlisted women like those who were ambushed in the ill-fated support unit in Iraq. Public affairs officials denied that request, and allowed the reporter to interview only female pilots on camera. Most enlisted women, who outnumber female officers by more than five to one, are known to oppose mandatory assignments in combat units on the same basis as men.

What is the purpose of what appears to be unusually restrictive management of news regarding enlisted women in combat?

The family of Spec. Shoshana Johnson said that she had joined the Army to learn cooking skills in a support unit, adding that she had never expected to wind up in a unit exposed to combat violence and capture in the early days of a full-scale war.

The situation probably would not have happened were it not for Defense Department rules ordered by the Clinton Administration in 1994, which now require women to serve in support units involving a "substantial risk of capture." Are recruiters informing young female prospects that they could be assigned in or near previously all-male units that involve a substantial and unequal risk of combat violence and capture in a future war?

If Defense Department officials cannot bring themselves to tell young women that the rules and their "conditions of employment" have changed, perhaps they should reconsider and revise current policies on women in combat.

Elaine Donnelly is president of the Center for Military Readiness. The Center's web site it at http://www.cmrlink.org.

---

It sounds to me like enlisted women do not want to be in combat units or even combat support units, female officers want them there to further their own agendas and carrers, and they are not informing female recruits about the current rules, rotten leftovers from the Clinton misadministration, allowing them to be placed in positions that they were traditionally barred from.

[#3Fan]

This is bad. It confirms something I had heard from someone at Landstuhl, that Jessica had to have a partial colostomy because her rectum and intestines were severly burned, likely due to rape with a hot iron. I had been hoping that they were wrong, especially since that was the least terrible part of the story.

That's terrible for them to do to any POW. Saddam's thugs were there for a reason, that's for sure.

[#3Fan]

I guess there is no thread for the chinook shoot down. Maybe ForGod'sSake should post one, for god's sake.

They complain about the attention she gets and yet they're the ones that give the most attention in the first place due to their petty agendas.

Well, I'm off to find a thread about apples so I can post comments about oranges in it.

Have to change the subject don't they?

[#3Fan]

Good point. I was wondering about that. I was wondering how much time they had being that they had a job to do.