Posted on 11/07/2003 7:31:52 AM PST by presidio9
Jessica Lynch has angrily accused the Pentagon of using her for propaganda. The 20-year-old private, portrayed as a female Rambo after she was captured by Iraqis during a blazing gun battle, then freed by American troops, told ABC there was no reason for her rescue from an Iraqi hospital to be filmed.
"They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff," Lynch said in an interview with Diane Sawyer that airs Tuesday, Veterans Day.
"Yeah, it's wrong," Lynch said. "I don't know why they filmed it, or why they say the things" they said.
That footage of U.S. commandos wheeling a grimacing Lynch to a waiting chopper was among the most dramatic of the war - and helped cement her image as a female warrior.
But Lynch said the true heroes were the soldiers who saved her.
"They're the ones that came in to rescue me," she said. "I'm so thankful that they did what they did; they risked their lives. ... They are my heroes."
She also disputed the Pentagon's early version of her capture by Iraqis, which suggested she had heroically defended herself - going down only after firing all her ammo.
Lynch says her M-16 jammed and she never got off a shot.
"My weapon did jam and I did not shoot, not a round, nothing," she said simply.
There was no immediate response from the Pentagon, which awarded Lynch a Purple Heart for her injuries.
ABC released excerpts of Lynch's first television interview yesterday after the Daily News obtained a copy of Lynch's authorized biography and revealed its most shocking secret - that she was raped by her Iraqi captors.
She has no memory of the rape. The book says there was a three-hour gap after her capture, a blank in her mind, during which she was assaulted.
"Even just the thinking about that, that's too painful," she told Sawyer.
Lynch said she was awakened from her stupor by searing pain.
"I seriously thought I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life," she told ABC.
The young soldier said at first she did not trust her Iraqi doctors - and tried to stifle her screams.
Trapped in her bed, Lynch said, she tried to tame her terror by thinking about her family, her fiancé, Sgt. Ruben Contreras, and her G.I. buddy Lori Piestewa.
After she was rescued, she learned Piestewa was dead.
In her book, "I Am a Soldier, Too," author Rick Bragg says the scars on Lynch's body and medical records indicate she was anally raped, and tells the reader to "fill in the blanks of what Jessi lived through on the morning of March 23, 2003."
Lynch says her unit was sent into battle armed only with M-16s - no grenades or anti-tank weapons - and in lumbering trucks that could not keep up with the convoy barreling toward Baghdad.
When the trucks in her unit tried to catch up, radio contact with the main convoy was lost - and so were they.
She was filled with foreboding.
"Jessi's fear of being left behind was beginning to come true," Bragg wrote.
Did I say that, or did I say, "She's either a liar, or her brain didn't work." I'm intimately familiar with the gun. She had enough time and training on the range that she should have had no problem. As I mentioned before, kids can do it. I'm also familiar with USMC trials and evaluation reports on the guns.
"Many here who have experience with these guns say they can jam before firing."
When they post why, it will be meaningful; otherwise it's not.
I think you've been easily fooled by the liberal media.
No - you hadn't even been on the thread. I pinged you so you could see what she said... It sounded like the truth you were looking for from the other thread.
…she said simply.
I see a disconnect here. Jessica is simply telling her story the way she sees it and she realizes that she has been used as a symbol by people with other motives that she has. She has every right to express her opinion. I don't blame her for not being thrilled about the media coverage of her ordeal. Just because she expresses her feelings about this does not mean she has angrily accused the Pentagon of anything. I'm sure that most members of our military are not thrilled with everything that comes out of there... they would be stepford soldiers if they did. She continues to be used by the media...
No - check out the comments.... Most are bashing HER.
Yeah, isn't it a shame that the military decided to show a success story? God forbid they should try to uplift the troops and the American people by showing film footage of the rescue of PFC Lynch, especially after hearing the news of the execution of her comrades.
/sarcasm
"Jessica Lynch has angrily accused the Pentagon of using her for propaganda."
YES!!! Let this be heard loudly and clearly across the nation! Telling the truth in the face of likely Pentagon pressure, and risking the ire of the feminazis who held her up as proof that "girls can do anything boys can, only better" shows incredible courage. Contrary to what you and others think about my stance, I've never held her in disdain, and I've told you that I was and still am very happy she was rescued. Now I know she's interested in the truth getting out, and that makes her better than OK in my book.
But...The Lie still needs to be squashed.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
I spent 22 years in the military and carried an M-16 for nine years, so I'm not exactly a novice.
I've seen people under stress forget to pull the charging handle, fire all the rounds without realizing they pulled the trigger, eject the magazine without realizing it, etc.
Although a weapon can misfeed when the charging handle is initially released, it is rare. I never experienced it and have fired tens of thousands of rounds through the M-16. When this happens it should be relatively easy to clear if the person has the minimum training.
I think that people are falsly blaming the M-16 when the problem was either very poor maintenance or lack of training.
Yes you called her stupid or a liar. Since she's not stupid then you called her a liar.
I'm intimately familiar with the gun. She had enough time and training on the range that she should have had no problem. As I mentioned before, kids can do it. I'm also familiar with USMC trials and evaluation reports on the guns.
Others here with as much experience as you say it can jam before firing in dusty conditions because of closer tolerances.
When they post why, it will be meaningful; otherwise it's not.
Closer tolerances is what they said.
She should be grateful that she's alive so she can vote for Senator Byrd.
/sarcasm
I remember being 19 years old, and if you think I don't know anything now, you should have seen me then. Perhaps you remember being 19 too.
What do people expect from a teenage girl who was suddenly placed into combat, saw all her friends die, and suffered a devastating accident that broke her legs, ankles and injured her spinal cord? As if that's not enough she was anally raped by Islamic pigs and dumped into a dungeon "hospital" with no medicine or real doctors to treat her. She lie there hungry, thirsty, raped, broken and bleeding for days, praying and calling out to God for help. She then returns home to find out that everyone and their grandmother were hyping and embellishing her story in an attempt to USE her for their own political or financial gain. This gal feels used and abused, and who the h-ll can blame her?
Lastly, let's not forget that she was sold up the river by the feminists who told her that a girl can be a strong soldier and is equal to men on the battlefield. There is not one conceivable way in which this young gal was not raped by somebody. Jessica Lynch's real story is that WE ALL used her. She was used by feminists to prove that females can be good soldiers, she was used by conservatives to prove that females should not be soldiers. She was used by the news media to sell newspapers and T.V. air time, and she was used by the Pentagon to help further the war effort. She was left behind by the main convoy, and was anally raped by her pig-faced Iraqi captors. She is still suffering from her severe wounds, and from memory loss. And none-the-less she has maintained enough courage and integrity to tell them all to go pound sand up their arses. What is there to not like about this gal?
Hmmmm, when she was talked about on the newshows, why wouldn't they clarify the story? I think the decided to let it stand if it was in fact media hype. We don't know for sure and it may have been initiated by the pentagon.
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