Posted on 11/08/2003 6:48:09 AM PST by 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.
I can understand your support. Everyone is entitled to their own feelings and beliefs. However, her position could have been made alot less difficult if she had chosen to return to West Virginia, make or release a statement to the press about her feelings/experiences in Iraq and with the military, and then get on with her life. She instead chose to become a public figure by writing a book. She's already had one interview and more will follow, especially to promote the sale of the book. What she says during those interviews will be telling. Will she repeat everything she has previously said piecemeal, or will she feel the need to add to the story each time she retells it? We'll have to wait to see for ourselves. Personally, for someone who felt that she had been used by the military, I find it very difficult to understand how she could then allow herself to be used by the media as well.
She claims she woke up 3 hours after the battle, and was never abused. Mohammed got a book deal, and an NBC movie deal based on a story that she believes is unadulterated BS.
So, she is supposed to go hang out with him, and validate him? I wouldn't in her place. She doesn't remember ever seeing him. She doesn't believe she was tortured. What would you do in her place then?
Give me one example from a named pentagon spokeman. I'll wait right here....
--------------------------------------------------
You've given no examples, yet you accuse others here at FR of believing in fairy tales.
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.
The question remains.
Give me one example from a named pentagon spokeman. I'll wait right here....
Wow. You don't read much here, do you?
Because the Iraqi soldiers hadn't seen a goat or a little boy in days?
All evidence indicates the moslem males prefer to beat and kill women and save their love life for buggering camels and dumb white Americans who join up with their cause (e.g., taliban lindh.)
Huh, who pointed her rescuers to her?
She's 19. I wonder how much her parents have to do with all this.
are you suggesting that the money she receives to cover the cost of injuries sustained in service to country is also intended to buy her silence?
I'm not sure about the military rules regarding access to personal records for those recently having served. I know I tried to get a copy of my uncle's WWII military record, and because I wasn't a wife or child of his, I had no right to the info. He died in '64 and my aunt (they had no children) died a couple of years ago. Even though I'm a blood relative, I am unable to know about his military service record.
From the article;
[BBC]: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.
BTW, do you have a quote from Jessica on what you just said? "...movie deal based on a story that she believes is unadulterated BS."
They were towing vehicles that had broken down. They could not keep up. What's your point?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.