Saving Private Lynch story 'flawed'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm ^ | 5/15/2003 | John Kampfner

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Private Jessica Lynch became an icon of the war, and the story of her capture by the Iraqis and her rescue by US special forces became one of the great patriotic moments of the conflict.

But her story is one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived.

Private Lynch, a 19-year-old army clerk from Palestine, West Virginia, was captured when her company took a wrong turning just outside Nasiriya and was ambushed.

Nine of her comrades were killed and Private Lynch was taken to the local hospital, which at the time was swarming with Fedayeen. Eight days later US special forces stormed the hospital, capturing the "dramatic" events on a night vision camera.

They were said to have come under fire from inside and outside the building, but they made it to Lynch and whisked her away by helicopter.

Reports claimed that she had stab and bullet wounds and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated.

But Iraqi doctors in Nasiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for the soldier in the midst of war. She was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital and one of only two nurses on the floor.

"I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle," said Dr Harith a-Houssona, who looked after her.

Jessica amnesia

"There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only road traffic accident. They want to distort the picture. I don't know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury."

Witnesses told us that the special forces knew that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they swooped on the hospital.

"We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital," said Dr Anmar Uday, who worked at the hospital.

"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital - action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."

There was one more twist. Two days before the snatch squad arrived, Harith had arranged to deliver Jessica to the Americans in an ambulance.

But as the ambulance, with Private Lynch inside, approached a checkpoint American troops opened fire, forcing it to flee back to the hospital. The Americans had almost killed their prize catch.

When footage of the rescue was released, General Vincent Brooks, US spokesman in Doha, said: "Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade."

The American strategy was to ensure the right television footage by using embedded reporters and images from their own cameras, editing the film themselves.

The Pentagon had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer.

Bruckheimer advised the Pentagon on the primetime television series "Profiles from the Front Line", that followed US forces in Afghanistan in 2001. That approached was taken on and developed on the field of battle in Iraq.

As for Private Lynch, her status as cult hero is stronger than ever. Internet auction sites list Jessica Lynch items, from an oil painting with an opening bid of $200 to a $5 "America Loves Jessica Lynch" fridge magnet.

But doctors now say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will.

---

War Spin will be broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday, 18 May, 2003 at 1915 BST.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Good. What did he say?

[optik_b]

Col. Hunt has made some pretty absurd statements during the coverage. I take everything he says with a grain of salt.

It does sound like the Iraqi hospital staff took good care of her, which is a bit of a surprise considering the savagery we've seen from the arab world. It sounds like the dramatic military raid may have been unnecessary in retrospect since the hospital staff not hostile and was actually working to protect her and give her back.

[optik_b]

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/archives/000212.html

Saving Pfc. Lynch, Take 2
The second draft of history is in for the daring rescue of POW Jessica Lynch by U.S. special forces. And it's looking quite different from the first draft.

A news program scheduled to air on the BBC this Sunday promises to challenge the generally accepted version of events -- which it dubs "one of the most stunning pieces of news management yet conceived."

The Guardian reports that the show will establish these points, among others:

Staff at the hospital from which commandoes extracted Lynch say that Iraqi forces had already cleared out before the raid.
Contrary to reports that Lynch was mistreated, they say they befriended her and gave her the best care possible, even donating their own blood.
One doctor tried to return her to U.S. troops two days before the raid, but had to retreat when the Americans fired at his ambulance.
No word yet on whether the show will air in the United States, although the reaction ought to be interesting.

Checking in on another key player, Mohammed Odeh Rahaief, the Iraqi lawyer credited with risking his life to help U.S. forces rescue Lynch, was recently honored by the Delaware State Bar Association for exhibiting "the highest ideals of lawyers." He also scored a book deal as he and his family adapt to life in America after being granted asylum.

[optik_b]

The ultra-left Guardian and the BBC raise some red flags.

[weegee]

The media never questioned Hillary's story that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary for climbing Mt. Everest. The media never questioned Bill Clinton's tale that racists were burning churches in Arkansas while he was a wee lad. I could go on ("Evurything that is AUP should be DAOWN an' evurything that is DAOWN SHOULD BE AUP!") but that would be exposing media bias which we have been time and time again by Big Media just does not exist.

[AdA$tra]

Yeah the SEAL's are running around shooting blanks for the camera and I have some beach front property in Oklahoma for sale too. I guess you haven't seen the entire tape. Look at the deposed Iraqi regime and then tell me they treated her right during her captivity. Considering what they did to their own people including children one can only imagine what they would to to an American girl. You are taking the word of a couple of brutes from Iraq as quoted in an anti-American Brit rag over the word of men of honor willing to give their lives for their country and the Iraqi people's freedom.

[AbsoluteJustice]

Read my analysis on it. I did not suspect the rescue as I feel this was very real. I am suspect of this so called "hero" that the media has labeled this girl. I do believe that she was rescued though.

[milemark]

I missed The O'Reilly Factor last night, but I heard that an officer of the U.S. army was going to be on to share his opinions and some new info regarding the Iraqi doctor's claims that rescuing PFC Lynch wasn't necessary. He says that the ambulance driver's who were "returning" Pfc. Lynch were never shot at, and that in fact when they reached an army checkpoint, they did not have her, but offered to sell the info on her location for $10,000 in U.S. currency and were sent away empty handed because they were already in the final stages of planning the rescue.
Also: The Media Reseach Center has a good peice online about a similar ABC News hatchet job on the Lynch rescue called: "They Saved Jessica Lynch but they ruined all the doorknobs" at : http://mediaresearch.org/realitycheck/2003/fax20030508.asp

[stevem99]

If the media never questioned those things you mentioned, how did we hear about them?

[weegee]

"Big Media" never did question those things I mentioned. Rush Limbaugh did.

Peter Jennings has voiced his disbelief of the Jessica Lynch story (as a professional news anchor). He played up that the hospital was a non-hostile place. The corpses of deceased soliders were also retrieved yet this was not mentioned in his report.

[stevem99]

Rush Limbaugh certainly IS a member of "Big Media."

A lot of people have questioned the LJ story as reported, quite resonably too in my opinion. What about the early stories of gunshot wounds and torture that have now been ruled out by both her family and doctors?

[Michael121]

Number one have you read or seen the Interviews with the other Soldiers who were also in the same convoy?

One PFC and a SSG both said they WERE NOT LOST. They DID NOT TAKE A WRONG TURN. ALl the vehicles are equipped with GPS. Military not civilain versions. They were where they were supposed to be following an Armored column. It was a tactic of the Nazis and also the Iraqis to lie in wait till after the Armor has passed and hit its support unit.

All the other soldiers that were found had emptied their weapons. Lynch would have also. it is a natural response to return fire. And as we have seen in the last Gulf war, the Iraqi soldiers take women who are wounded and rape them. Ask the downed female pilot who had a broken arm. Watch her interview. She was worried about being shot. And was suprised when they were "feeling her up" in the truck, on the way to prison.

So if they claim that the convoy took a wrong turn when in did not. They also may claim other UNTRUTHS. Gee with CNN and NYTimes it is suprising that some still believe in integrity in the media.

[weegee]

Rush Limbaugh certainly IS a member of "Big Media."

Rush Limbaugh may have a substantial audience base but his involvement in a story allows his critics to readily disregard whatever he is presenting. He is not an accepted member of the media profession. He has received a broadcasting award and been savaged in the introduction speech for the same award.

President Clinton was able to quickly demonize Rush's profession. Mike Drudge is also not a "credentialed" member of Big Media.

The talking heads on the alphabet networks and at "trustworthy" papers like NY Times and Washington Post are considered "dependable" members of the media.

[AdA$tra]

Did you happen to see O'Reilly tonight? If so do you think Col. Hunt, the JSOG operatives, the intelligence assets involved AND the Pentagon all lying? while at the same time the BBC is no longer even trusted by their own military and the Iraqi doctor has an axe to grind.

[AbsoluteJustice]

For the last time I have repeated this over and over again I DO NOT BELIEVE ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE LYING!!!

I do not think her CAPTURE was what it was said to be read my posts. It was found that she was not stabbed and the broken legs were the result of a vehicle crash. The emptying of the magazine in a blaze of glory that the media trumped her up to be I am suspect of as she has convienently forgotten the entire thing. Yes I did see O'Reilly.