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.
Only to someone who assumes things.
"Not when it's so obvious."
Again, only to someone who interprets it that way. I don't agree with your interpretation or assumption of what PFC Lynch suggested in her comments. If she meant morale, she should have said morale...not 'They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff." "All that stuff" doesn't necessarily mean "morale" to me.
"Then why do you ask what I meant? That looks obvious too."
I didn't ask what you meant! Where did I say that? Again you're putting words in my mouth. I asked what was it with YOU and Johnny Cash. I was being a smart-ass, questioning why you kept invoking his name in your replies. It was so OBVIOUS what I meant. I'm surprised a person of superior intelligence like you, who can read minds and interpret every written word, didn't know that was what I was insinuating.
He does this on every thread about every subject. He twists people's words and puts words in their mouth. He lashes out at people and provokes them so he can be the center of attention. He has a serious psychiatric problem.
Go away, you annoying little fly (swat, swat).
Well, that is BS... He just gets mad to see one of our soldiers badmouthed on FR, a soldier who has acted only honorably.
I try to do the same thing but he has more endurance and a stronger stomach for the crap on these threads than I do. There are plenty of people who would offer support to Lynch and all of our troops, even the women. They just don't obsess on the threads the way the Jessica bashers do.
I try to stay away. But I can't when I see the vile crap posted here where support for our troops should be unwavering. (remember that she is on our side in a war?).
Jessica Lynch Condemns Pentagon
The editiorialized quote that the media wants is the third sentance
But the 20-year-old criticised the release of false information about her capture by Iraqi forces.
Emphasis Added.
So, while I do feel sorry for Pvt. Lynch and her circumstances, this interview with Diane Sawyer was, plain and simple, a political hit piece on the Pentagon.
Well no, that's not. It doesn't matter if the subject is about Jessica Lynch or Kobe Bryant or anything else. He attacks people and twists their words and calls them names. He is consistently rude, obnoxious and confrontational. On just about every thread you can find someone objecting to his dishonesty and word twisting. Defend him if you like.
You naver assume things? You assume that you're not going to die going to work don't you?
Again, only to someone who interprets it that way. I don't agree with your interpretation or assumption of what PFC Lynch suggested in her comments. If she meant morale, she should have said morale...not 'They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff." "All that stuff" doesn't necessarily mean "morale" to me.
It's self-evident that it was for morale.
I didn't ask what you meant! Where did I say that?
In post #318.
Again you're putting words in my mouth.
Nope, plain as day, post #318. You asked "what is it with you and Johnny Cash?" I told you, it's about the ad.
I asked what was it with YOU and Johnny Cash. I was being a smart-ass, questioning why you kept invoking his name in your replies.
Exactly, and I told you, because of his ad.
It was so OBVIOUS what I meant. I'm surprised a person of superior intelligence like you, who can read minds and interpret every written word, didn't know that was what I was insinuating.
You asked a question, I answered.
Example?
He lashes out at people and provokes them so he can be the center of attention. He has a serious psychiatric problem.
Thanks for helping make me the center of attention again by posting about me but not to me with this post I'm responding to.
You can't discuss anything intelligently so you post trash.
You've been fooled by the liberal media. She didn't "condemn" the Pentagon. And she said she was hurt by the false story. Why wouldn't she be hurt, half the country hates her for it now.
I attack their points.
...and twists their words...
Example?
...and calls them names. He is consistently rude, obnoxious and confrontational.
Ummm...you set a record for these three traits. Remember your earlier post to me on this thread, and it was unprovoked. You just can't stand that I have a different opinion than you.
On just about every thread you can find someone objecting to his dishonesty and word twisting.
Funny how you can't come up with an example of this.
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