BBC: US tries to Boost Patriotism, Faked Rescue: Jessica Lynch

by Cassiline 57 Replies latest social current

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  Cassiline

  BBC:

  British Broadcasting Corp. documentary concluded after interviewing Iraqis that the rescue was a Hollywood-style stunt designed to boost patriotism at a difficult time in the war.

  Washington Post, Richard Cohen says that their reports were not accurate.

  The Post initially said Lynch was shot and stabbed as she fought off her attackers "gun blazing" until she was taken prisoner.
  
  "Trouble is, much of that may be false," Cohen wrote, adding Lynch was likely neither shot nor stabbed.

  In the Lynch case, for instance, The Post sent a correspondent to the hospital in

  But none of those stories got the play of the first, and none of them specifically said, "Look, folks, we're not so sure anymore." Instead, the caveats and doubts were folded into other stories. The reader, like a CIA analyst, had to read everything to understand what The Post was saying. It seemed to be backing off its original account, but not in a forthright way.

  Jessica Lynch:

  States she does not remember the event

  One person unlikely to shed any light on what happened is Lynch, who doctors say has no recollection of the event.

  Pentagon:

  Pentagon spokesman Marine Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said it was "ludicrous and insulting" for the BBC to suggest the rescue was staged and hyped up.

  Army:

  Army spokesman Bruce Anderson said the military was doing its own investigation into the capture of Lynch. "It's an after-action review of a significant incident," said.

  The Army's Criminal Investigation unit is doing a separate investigation into the treatment of prisoners of war to determine whether any war crimes were committed by Iraqis. Unit spokesman Chris Gray said investigators had been on the ground in since the beginning of the conflict.

  Hospital:

  Commandos refused a key to gain access to the hospital and used unnecessary force to enter.

  The commandos refused a key and instead broke down doors and went in with guns drawn. They carried away the prisoner in the dead of night with helicopter and armored vehicle backup - even though there was no Iraqi military presence and the hospital staff didn't resist.

  Has anyone here seen this documentary? With the stated facts IMO the timing of the rescue does seem convenient along with the facts presented. I am not a conspiracy theorist but with the questions ,could it be the government tried to gain public sympathy and bury outrage over the on going war?

  http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/05/265244.shtml

  http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAAK1RR9GD.html
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  Cassiline
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  blondie

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm

  Thursday, 15 May, 2003, 08:50 GMT 09:50 UK Saving Private Lynch story 'flawed' Private Lynch has lost her memory of her rescue

  By John Kampfner

  

  Read your comments here

  ---

  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.

  There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound Dr Harith a-Houssona

  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.

  Dr a-Houssona found no bullet wounds

  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.

  Dr Uday was surprised by the manner of the rescue

  "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.

  Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen General Vincent Brooks

  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.
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  Cassiline
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  Cassiline

  gahhhhhhh

  I have been having problems posting and I cant get the sources up in fact I cant get my whole post up which shows The Washington posts take on events.
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  Cassiline
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  blondie

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3043115.stm

  US rejects BBC Lynch report

  The Pentagon is accused of dramatising the operation The Pentagon has hit back at allegations made in a BBC documentary that the US military stage-managed the rescue in Iraq of American PoW Jessica Lynch. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said any claims that the facts of Private Lynch's rescue were misrepresented by the US military were "void of all facts and absolutely ridiculous". An investigation by the BBC's Correspondent programme said the story of the rescue was "one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived". The 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. Eight days later US special forces stormed the hospital, capturing the "dramatic" events on a night vision camera. The rescue was extensively reported around the world, with the pictures of the rescue turning Private Lynch into a cult hero in the United States. Jessica Lynch story 'flawed' But Correspondent said the US military knew there were no Iraqi forces guarding the hospital, and quoted a local doctor saying that the troops used blank rounds to "make a show" of the operation. It also questioned reports that Private Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated. The programme said Iraqi doctors in Nasiriya claimed to have provided the best treatment they could for the soldier in the midst of war. But the Pentagon said no blanks were used, and that all the procedures used were consistent with normal operations when there is a threat of encountering hostile forces. "We don't want to take unnecessary risk. We do make sure that when we exercise military force we use the right resources, sufficient to get the job done. It is a decision made by the commander on the ground," Mr Whitman told CNN. The Pentagon never released an account of what happened to Lynch because it didn't have an account Bryan Whitman Pentagon spokesman He also said that the US military never claimed that the troops came under fire when they burst into the hospital, but that troops supporting the mission exchanged fire nearby. Speculative reports in the media were responsible for some of the misinformation, not Pentagon statements, he added. "The Pentagon never released an account of what happened to Lynch because it didn't have an account. She never told us," Mr Whitman added. Doctors now say Jessica Lynch has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will.
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  Cassiline
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  Cassiline
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  Cassiline