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.
Look, #3 Fan, many of us have been saying on these threads that it is wrong to have this "Jessica!" media circus. We have been saying that such hype was detrimental to the morale of other servicemembers and their families and even to Lynch herself. We have been saying that Lynch should be treated just as any other of the POW's or as any other of the casualties.
You, on the other hand, have been the head cheerleader on FR for the "Jessica!" hype.
Now, Lynch herself is saying what we have been saying. She does not want to be labelled a false super-heroine either by the media or by the Army or by "fans" such as yourself.
This woman needs to be treated as any other Purple Heart winner and left alone to get on with her life.
Of course.
Do you think the Pentagon taped the rescue to use as propaganda?
No. They allowed the media to have it for morale. Propaganda implies lies.
Do you think the Media and the Pentagon are in cahoots?
Of course not.
Do you think that writing a book is a sign of wanting to be left alone?
It's a sign of wanting the truth to be known so idiots will stop making false accusations.
Do you think that the Pentagon never adjusted its statements as to what happened as more facts became available?
I don't know. What were their initial claims?
One thing is for certain - the media used Lynch to push social and political agenda and the Pentagon used the situation to turn morale about the war around.
I disagree about the media. They were trying to get a story and went too soon on sketchy evidence. When they propagandize, it's more subtle and they do it when they know it'll be hard to prove. This was too easy to shoot down and therefore it was jumping the gun, not a conspiracy.
One agenda was wrong and one was right - which side will Lynch take? Who will she slam as being wrong?
Who cares. I'm just appreciative of her sacrifices for her country and everyone else who is sitting comfortably on these shores should be also and not worry about every detail of her personality.
I for one am gald to see she knows what makes a real hero.
Everyone has a different definition.
Well I suppose that would be better than being captured without having fired a shot.
But it's you guys that are having the circus. Bashers outnumber defenders. The media wouldn't run these stories if there wasn't a market for it, and you guys are the market. You can't stop hating her.
We have been saying that such hype was detrimental to the morale of other servicemembers and their families and even to Lynch herself.
That's bull. Servicemembers don't care what Diane Sawyer is doing over here.
We have been saying that Lynch should be treated just as any other of the POW's or as any other of the casualties.
Then why don't you treat her that way?
You, on the other hand, have been the head cheerleader on FR for the "Jessica!" hype.
No, I've been head defender. If there were no bashers, I would be making no posts at all on this subject.
Now, Lynch herself is saying what we have been saying. She does not want to be labelled a false super-heroine either by the media or by the Army or by "fans" such as yourself.
LOL Well, I can call a hero who I want to. And while I appreciate her service, she doesn't rule my mind and I have my definition of a hero that I've elaborated on a million times here.
This woman needs to be treated as any other Purple Heart winner and left alone to get on with her life.
Then why are you posting on this thread?
Excellent question.
Which doesn't mean that it didn't happen, just that they saw no evidence of it.
They hate the rescue.
Giving the video of a rescue to boast morale implies no lies to me.
Of course it doesn't. That's not what I said, I said using the word "propaganda" implies someone is lying. It's fine to boost morale.
Funny that some here think everyone is out to get Lynch. Kind of make thems heros - protecting her from the media, the pentagon, Bush and the "haters".
Some are out to get her. They nitpick and focus on the negative. They pretend that torture never happen, say she got "excellent care", and call her a whore and white trash. Where've you been?
If the intentions was to limit false accusations, why not make a written statement and refuse interviews and book promotions? Why even write a book?
It's a free country. If there are people that want to read a book about her, she should write it. Why are you against bookwriting?
The pentagon did nothing wrong in releasing the video and there was nothing wrong with using it to boast morale. Lynch is wrong.
Wrong about what? She said it was wrong to tell a false story about her. It was the Washington Post that did that. That false story caused the dull-minded of this country to dislike her. I can see why she would be hurt by that.
The media should be her target, yet she grants them interviews where they can control the dissemination. Interesting.
Maybe she feels all the hate directed toward her by the dull-minded that dislike her could've been avoided if the false story would've been shown for what it was.
You're a nitpicker for complaining about this, sitting in your easy-chair while she has a broken back.
You believe them? You don't reckon they have anything to hide do you?
What are you talking about?
You forgot those of us who advocate treating equally and leaving her in peace.
That's bull. Servicemembers don't care what Diane Sawyer is doing over here.
How quickly you forget the threads about Lynch's comrades whose families wonder why their loved ones aren't even noticed.
We have been saying that Lynch should be treated just as any other of the POW's or as any other of the casualties.......... Then why don't you treat her that way?
My posts have always argued that. I have never criticized Lynch. I have strongly criticized the sick hype.
You, on the other hand, have been the head cheerleader on FR for the "Jessica!" hype........ No, I've been head defender. If there were no bashers, I would be making no posts at all on this subject.
As I recall, you were a head cheerleader during the "Medal of Honor for Jessica" threads and you were the head cheerleader making her out to be a female Rambo. That is precisely the kind of hype she now hates.
LOL Well, I can call a hero who I want to.
I think she's a hero, too. It's the over-the-top hype that I argue against.
This woman needs to be treated as any other Purple Heart winner and left alone to get on with her life........ Then why are you posting on this thread?
To try to stop this sick hype.
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