Jessica Lynch condemns Pentagon

BBC ^ | Friday, 7 November, 2003, 18:11 GMT | BBC

[KQQL]

US woman soldier who shot to fame after being taken prisoner during the Iraq war has accused the military of using her for propaganda purposes.

A video of US commandos carrying a badly injured Private Jessica Lynch from a Nasiriya hospital was released at the height of the conflict.

But the 20-year-old criticised the release of false information about her capture by Iraqi forces.

She also said there was no reason for her rescue to be filmed.

In her first interview about what happened to her, the former prisoner-of-war told ABC television that medical reports indicated that she had been raped.

They used me as a way to symbolise all this stuff. It's wrong.

She said she had no recollection of the attack. "Even just the thinking about that, that's too painful," she told interviewer Diane Sawyer.

Miss Lynch, who was serving as an Army supply clerk, suffered broken bones and other injuries when her convoy was ambushed after taking a wrong turn near the Iraqi town of Nasiriya on 23 March.

The Pentagon initially put out the story that Private Lynch - a slight woman who was just 19 at the time - had been wounded by Iraqi gunfire but had kept fighting until her ammunition ran out.

But she told Sawyer that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that her gun had jammed during the chaos.

"I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do," she said.

"I did not shoot - not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees - that's the last thing I remember."

Initial reports also suggested that Miss Lynch had been abused after she came round in the hospital. She says that again was untrue - there was no mistreatment, and one nurse used to sing to her.

She said she was grateful to the American special forces team which rescued her but, asked whether the Pentagon's subsequent portrayal of her rescue bothered her, she said: "Yes, it does. They used me as a way to symbolise all this stuff. It's wrong."

Injuries

Miss Lynch was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals while still in hospital in Washington DC.

Months later, she is receiving treatment for her extensive injuries.

Earlier this week, it emerged that medical evidence suggested that Miss Lynch had been raped during her capture.

The assault was revealed in extracts from Miss Lynch's authorised biography - I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story - to be released by publisher Alfred A Knopf on Tuesday.

[LouD]

The military has combat camera crews involved in many operations. The film is used for training, after-action reporting and analysis, and propaganda purposes - and providing such footage is part of the agreement with the media to avoid freelance journalists getting in the way on the battlefield.

[arete]

If nothing else, you are philosophically consistent!

Easy if you are true to your core beliefs and values. It is interesting to see how many phony conservatives now support big government, the trashing of the constitution, and a police state. The same people who were wildly supportive of Lynch when the story first broke, are now lining up to discredit and trash her. I had no problem. The story was too good to be true even by FR's fairy tale standards when it comes to the military. Nothing has changed just a bunch of people making fools of themselves.

Richard W.

[HairOfTheDog]

That is pure spin. She agreed to meet him privately... she was just not ready for the huge public event that would have been.

[chuckwalla]

I kept hearing that she didn't remember anything. That she was too traumatized.
Now she remembers enough to criticize those that protected her when she blacked out????????

[mass55th]

"It'd be interesting to know how this group made a wrong turn when they were supposed to be following a convoy."

It was reported at the time that they had GPS, but that someone had misread the direction they were supposed to go in. I don't believe they've ever publicly reported who or what was at fault for their getting lost. We may never know what actually happened. The unfortunate part we do know is that it caused the death and capture of several of our soldiers.

[CyberAnt]

Somebody needed to clue this little lady in that her brother is now going to be on the front line - and if he should be captured .. would she want him rescued EVEN IF THEY FILMED IT.

[Sasha152]

Taking into consideration the contempt women are held in in many Middle Eastern Countries, compounded with the fact that here was a female AMERICAN ("infidel")soldier; I believe she could have been raped, and likely was. The fact that she cannot recall it, may have more to do with shock, or being unconscious. Also, the human mind can block out things that are just too awful. It's a defense mechanism, and bit by bit, memories could return in time. I remember the "Central Park Jogger," who was left for dead after suffering gang rape, and beating. She did not recall anything, but it definitely happened. Maybe by now, some memories have returned. Maybe they never will, and maybe that is a saving grace.

[submarinerswife]

Back it up. Show me a link where she met him. If you can...

[sandlady]

The vehicle Lynch was riding in was hit by an RPG which caused the driver (Peistewa) to lose control and run into the jack-knifed vehicle towing another vehicle. The convoy was under attack-it wasn't just a "car crash." She was in the middle of the back seat. Everyone else in her truck died. This is from the "official" report.

[HairOfTheDog]

She made an offer for a private meeting. I don't know if he took her up on it.... it might have been ~private~

[Dane]

That is pure spin. She agreed to meet him privately... she was just not ready for the huge public event that would have been

So she couldn't give up 10 minutes to shake his hand and have a picture taken while he is in her hometown.

JMO, but Jessica should get off on the next exit of the Babs Streisand diva road she seems to be on.

[HairOfTheDog]

Right... I am really not pushing for more details from her on it.

[sandlady]

Show me the link where she met with him.

That is not required. The article that states she did not meet with him when he came to the Library in her hometown also said that she planned to meet with him in private.

[nosofar]

Her "story" isn't worth a book or a movie. She as a person is not worth the time of day. She is MOST forgetable.

Actually, the story now is not her rescue, but the way the Pentagon and media handled it. It could still make a mediocre made-for-tv move.

[Iwo Jima]

Yes, that is basically how I remember it being described. It was a horrific motor vehicle accident during combat. She was lucky to survive it. No one else did.

[saquin]

Iwo Jima,

She was in 2 hospitals. First an Iraqi Military Hospital, then hours later she was transferred to the hospital in Nasiriyah. She admits she lost 3 hours, where she doesn't remember anything (Unconscious? or repression?) I seem to be understanding the Nasiriyah hospital admin as saying she suffered under the soldiers who had her for those 1st three hours. I believe she was not mistreated in the Nasiriyah hospital. I believe the doctors and nurses there are good people who gave her the best care they could. I see no contradiction.

As to how she arrived at the Nasitiyah hospital, I can only quote the articles written at the time:

"When Lynch arrived at Saddam Hussein hospital in a military ambulance that afternoon, the nurses and doctors who admitted her said they were surprised to find an American woman, almost naked, her limbs in plaster casts, beneath a sheet." http://www.dadi.org/gijesic2.htm

"She was terrified. She had been brought in naked except for her military T-shirt. She kept saying to me 'Don't touch me, please don't hurt me.' I told her I am a doctor. I have never harmed a patient, don't worry." http://www.angryharry.com/reWhoReallyDidSavePrivateJessica.htm

[FreeReign]

That is pure spin. She agreed to meet him privately... she was just not ready for the huge public event that would have been.

There was requirement that the meeting be public. She could have met him when he was in town -- privately. Her lawyer said she was too busy.

This Iraqi guy was cut from the script.

[HairOfTheDog]

And you think it would have been a 10 minute event with little stress. Do you know what the media looks like when they descend on a house for such an event? How many cameras? How many trucks? How many flash bulbs? You really believe this event would ramain small?

[185JHP]

I don't want to be indelicate, but what happened to her, according to the story, isn't a normal thing. The human body isn't designed for that perversion. She'd know what happened.

[submarinerswife]

How do you know about a private meeting? Back it up.