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]

...

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

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Hey, don't shoot the messenger!

[Bismark]

Let me see if I understand this... Iraqis are telling the BBC this story, and they don't include an American response to the story?

I remember that during the war the British Navy stopped showing the BBC because their coverage was so pro-Iraq and anti-coalition. It seems that they will never change.

[DonQ]

As the straight facts of Lynch's rescue become known, some articles seem to have the tone of blaming Jessica Lynch herself ... for hyping the story of her capture, for hyping the story of her rescue, for not telling her own story, etc.

I honestly believe that Jessica Lynch cannot remember the details of her capture. She apparently was wounded fairly early in event and I can hardly imagine the trauma for her, considering she wasn't even supposed to see combat. As for the rest of it, we got the story of her Alamo-like resistance to capture from other people, while Lynch herself was still MIA. And we got the story of the D-Day-like rescue from other people, while she was still semi-conscious and not talking about her experiences to anyone. Any exaggeration is not her fault at all.

It's enough that she was shot by the enemy, saw her comrades killed, was apparently tortured (for no particular reason) and kept a prisoner (with medical attention far inferior to what Americans are used to).

[AdA$tra]

Poppycock.

[caisson71]

And we are to belive this "truth" from an Iraqi with no corroborating evidence? What do they think I am? Do they believe we are all NY Times journalists/readers? I don't recall any great welcoming party at the hospital.

[Cicero]

I'm not sure why they are running this story now. Your date is correct--I just checked it. But this story is identical with other stories that were run a week or two ago. Seemingly BBC--which is notorious for its pro-Arab slant--wants to keep it alive. We've been through all this before.

In the first place, the hospital staff witnesses may not be reliable.

In the second place, even if they treated her well, that doesn't say that her captors or visitors treated her well.

In the third place, at the time they say they tried to deliver her in an ambulance and were turned back at a roadblock, suicide bombings at roadblocks were at their height. And Arab fanatics have been known to use ambulances for suicide bombings.

And so on, and so on. It's a carping, whining, childish, nya-nya-I-told-you-so kind of story. It doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

You forgot to dismiss the reported use of blanks...

[MediaMole]

First of all, there is no way in hell that any US forces would have blanks in a war zone. Period, end of story.

Second, from all reports, Lynch was shot several times. She still is reported to be unable to walk. This doesn't correspond with the story from the hospital.

[leilani]

Yes. The BBC as it is currently being managed, is a worldwide JOKE. I have to say, when I was a kid, Auntie Beeb was my second mama. But the world knows now that the BBC is run by Howell Raines' evil twin. In other words, anything that the BBC says now is about as reliable as the National Inquirer on a bad day. Which is to say: as worthless as Jayson Blair's honor.

[Recon by Fire]

First of all, there is no way in hell that any US forces would have blanks in a war zone. Period, end of story.

I agree, anyone who believes that is a mental midget

Based on my personal experiences with Seals, Rangers, Delta, and Special Forces, "THEY don't play, they take their job serious or people die.

[Joee]

I just wonder if this isn't some kind of a "set-up" to qualify her for a special decoration. The rules should apply for all in such awards, not to detract from what she has done and been exposed to, but to keep things in prospective.

[hoot2]

"First of all, there is no way in hell that any US forces would have blanks in a war zone. Period, end of story. "

if demonRATS are in the whitehouse...
nam: guard duty with no ammo
u.s.s. cole: no guards; n no weapons visible

[Lancey Howard]

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

Funny how this last line puts the lie to the whole story. I'm surprised the writer left it in there. Nobody suffers traumatic, permanent amnesia from a "road accident".

[AdA$tra]

Nobody suffers traumatic, permanent amnesia from a "road accident".

I doubt there is anything worth remembering anyway. If I were a betting man I waould say she remembers plenty and just doesn't want to talk about it on Oprah.

[The Coopster]

Do you have statements from people who stood in front of the weapons to check?

What are you, remaking Capricorn One?

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Actually, I suspect the article is bogus. I was just pointing out that you left out what I think is the funniest part of the whole article.

[stevem99]

Are you a doctor? What a ridiculous statement to make. Any sort of head injury, whether a fall or a car accident or a shot to the head, can cause amnesia.

[AbsoluteJustice]

No I do not think this is poppycock as you proclaim it is. I have been suspect of this so called "hero" for quite some time now. They are correct this individual did not have bullet wounds and knife wounds as the public was led to believe. Additionally her broken bone, as it has recently been found, were not as a result of battle or torture, it appears to have happened as a result of a vehicle accident/crash. Thus I am suspect as to the account that she went down in a "blaze of bullets" and fired her magazine until empty. What makes this things all ironic on her account is that while all of these things are starting to be uncovered she now conviently "forgets" what happened. I can understand forgetting details but to forgt the whole encounter? That is poppycock. Not you persay but others in here and other places have tried to paint this individual a hero. I do feel that her being taken POW was very real but all of the event leading up to this I am very suspect of as it appears we were all searching for that "hero" of the war. I find that she is not that person. IMO.

[The Wizard]

Col. Hunt On F&F blew this away this morning