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.
Do you think it might be important to check that out? After all he saved her from a gruesome death and minimized the torture and abuse. Nice of her to be so cavalier.
A NORMAL reaction would be to check through Special FOrces or whomever and find out if this was the guy that saved her. All he wanted from us was a tee shirt.
You may continue to make up excuses fore her but none of them leave her in a flattering position. She's a very ungrateful little girl.
And they want to ask her doctor whether she was assaulted...
That's encouraging.
That’s right. Do you think that mission would have been launched if she was a guy? Hell no. I wonder how many soldiers died because resources were puled away from other operations to pull off this stunt? - All to send the message, “Join up girls. And, don’t worry if you get captured. We’ll come in a big helicopter to get you.”
I, for one, would.
Time will tell. It would be the honorable thing to do out of respect for those who earned them. And, especially for those who earned them and never had them awarded.
Maybe she's got some sort of psychological fear of Iraqis now since her capture? It would seem a reasonable conclusion to draw. Maybe the thought of meeting the man filled her with an irrational dread.
As far as the filming aspect, I can see her point. I, myself, always wondered about the American flag she had on her chest on the stretcher. That was obvious propaganda. Perhaps she just didn't like being used like that? I'm not sure I blame her for that...
It isn't as if she petitioned for the medal. If the Army decides to give you a medal, there's not really much you can do about it. The Bronze Star is an award that has enough vagueness in its requirements to allow a commander to award it as he sees fit. The medal, as such can be used as a tool for improving morale in general.
I don't think she could return the medal if she wanted to.
Refer anyone who accused you of pointing fingers at the Pentagon to this post. I can state that you absolutely did not blame the Pentagon for the Lie, and in fact, at one point you even told me you weren't aware of the part of the Lie which turned PFC Lynch into Lynch, Warrior Princess. I am here to defend you against those false accusations, FRiend.
That said, I reviewed my archives of The Lie, and see that the Washington Compost used an "unidentified Pentagon source" (Geez Louise...what happened to not going with a story until you had three named sources...my old Newswriting professor probably blew his stack over this one!) upon which to base The Lie. While this would seem to exonerate the Pentagon, two things still make me uneasy of the Pentagon's handling of the incident:
1) No one at the Pentagon, to my knowledge, has ever denied the Compost's reporting of The Lie, or denied that the "unidentified source" existed, or said whatever he/she/it supposedly said, and
2) the Pentagon was very quick to "correct" the doctor in Germany who came out and said Lynch had not suffered the type of wounds she was reported to have.
I don't trust the Pentagon farther than I can throw it/them, and with the close proximity of DACOWITS to this story, I'm still leery of their complicity in The Lie.
"We needed her good news story. "
Yes, we did. It was certainly at least a breath of fresh air after the sandstorm, the 507th being ambushed, the helicopters being shot down or making "hard landings", etc. But it should have been left at just that...one of the good guys/gals was rescued. Whoever started The Lie, be it the Pentagon, DACOWITS, the Compost, Gloria Steinam, whoever, ruined what could have been a good news story, plain and simple. I'd like to see heads roll wherever the guilty party/parties are.
See, HOTD, you and I are back to agreeing on stuff!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Frankly Mr. Burkeman, I could care less what you think of my debating skills, and I'm terribly sorry that you don't want me at your meeting next week. It's probably all for the better anyway, since I'd have an awfully long trip getting there. You see I don't live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but reside in the Empire State. Thanks for thinking of me however. It's nice to know that there are still young men out there being considerate of their elders.
Hey - how 'bout them Mountaineers?
Yes they did. It was in that infamous WP article.
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Lynch Shot Iraqi Soldiers
The Washington Post ^ | April 3, 2003 |
"....Pentagon officials said they had heard "rumors" of Lynch's heroics but had no confirmation."
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Some argue that because she welcomes media attention, she cannot object to public relations use made of her story, earlier, by the press and by officials. This argument effectively treats publicity as an issue, but not truthfulness. It is perfectly reasonable to be offended by untruthful publicity, as untruthful, without being such a shrinking violet that one objects to all publicity.
If that is still too hard to follow, she does not object to a book about her experiences in which she has the chance to correct everything, because the things related in that book are true. She does object to media hype about her heroism, because the things related in that media hype are not true.
More pointedly, to object to being lied about is not the same as objecting to being talked about.
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