News The Jessica Lynch Story: Fact vs Fiction

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The discussion centers around Jessica Lynch, a U.S. soldier who was captured during the Iraq War and later rescued, initially portrayed as a heroic figure by the media and government. Participants express skepticism about the accuracy of her story, highlighting that the narrative of her being tortured and heroically rescued was largely exaggerated for propaganda purposes. Lynch herself has criticized this portrayal, stating that she was not the hero she was made out to be and that her experience was manipulated by the military and media. Some contributors argue that while Lynch suffered serious injuries, her story has overshadowed the experiences of other POWs who faced harsher conditions without receiving similar media attention. There is a debate over whether Lynch's subsequent book deal and public appearances exploit her experience for profit, with some asserting that she is as much a product of propaganda as she was a victim. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of media narratives in wartime and the ethical considerations of using individual stories for political gain.
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Remember Jessica Lynch? First she was a brave soldier, cut down like a jawbone-swinging hero on the front lines. Then she was rescued by a daring special forces raid, from a hell-hole in which the nasty Iraqis were torturing her.

Then it turned out to be a bunch of crap, a propaganda puff piece.

A pretty, blonde soldier ambushed by the Iraqis, courageously firing until her ammo runs out, shot and stabbed and carried off by the enemy who, after taking time out to rape her, deposit her unconscious body in a hospital, where she is slapped around by evil medical staff, then, nine days later, is rescued in a daring, nighttime raid that is videotaped and can be shown repeatedly around the world and who, as soon as she recovers, will tell what it's like to be an all-American hero. It was a gift from the propaganda gods.

Just two problems: It didn't happen that way, and the designated hero, Pte. Jessica Lynch, refuses to say it did.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1068937808710&call_pageid=968332188854
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1116-02.htm
 
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She has proven herself to be a hero in speaking out against her use as a propaganda tool. We should all be super proud of her.
 
Originally posted by Adam
Remember Jessica Lynch? First she was a brave soldier, cut down like a jawbone-swinging hero on the front lines. Then she was rescued by a daring special forces raid, from a hell-hole in which the nasty Iraqis were torturing her.

Then it turned out to be a bunch of crap, a propaganda puff piece.

Reminds me of the time they put a Mission Accomplish sign in the aircraft carrier.
 
Zero is correct.
 
Originally posted by Zero
She has proven herself to be a hero in speaking out against her use as a propaganda tool. We should all be super proud of her.

I agree...I saw her in an interview and I admire her honesty. She is the first to admit she was not a hero, but, I thank her immensely for being at the front line of duty and protecting America to the best of her ability.
 
I admire her honesty too. It was nice of her to stand up against the whitehouse gimps who twisted everything.

Originally posted by timejim
but, I thank her immensely for being at the front line of duty and protecting America to the best of her ability.
How did she protect America?
 
Originally posted by Adam
How did she protect America?

i'm not going to cricize lynch, because she was just doing her job.

but this goes back to the issue of the war, how are we protecting america, when we're invading a country which wasn't even a threat, and in the process pissing off a lot of people?


also, i think somehow, larry flynt helped pvt. lynch's case somewhat... even though he did buy pictures of her, he refused to publish them, and also publicly said she was the victim of a government propaganda scam.
 
Larry Flynt has been surpassed in obscenity by the mainstream media and the government.

Njorl
 
Originally posted by Njorl
Larry Flynt has been surpassed in obscenity by the mainstream media and the government.

Njorl
It is funny, and true...at least Larry Flynt doesn't waste our time talking about politicians' hair and the colors of their suits. It is a sad day when Hustler is doing better reporting than the mainstream media.
 
  • #10
It's already been mentioned but yes, way to go Lynch for not being a tool for the government.

That in my opinion, is the reason why I would consider her a hero.
 
  • #11
Because I was in the Military, I seem to have my own views of Jessica Lynch. She is in "no" way a Hero. Yes it is tragic that she was taken captive and abused, but that has happened to many American soldiers. I feel that she is using her experience for profitable purposes just as much as the Military was using her. I think the thing that topped it all off for me was when she came out with her book. I mean she did absolutely "NOTHING" to warrant a 1 million dollar book deal. She wasn’t even conscious through the whole thing. What about the POWs that went through all the interrogations? She was just a victim of bad circumstances. Where are a majority of the other POWs now? Oh yeah most of them are still "IN" the military fighting for a cause (reasonable or not). They did not use their experience as a reason to get released from the military early, and make money from it. To me they are the Hero's whose names should be held high. I don't care that she came out and said that she is not a Hero; she is still exploiting what she went through to make money, and within that she looses all respect for the tragedy of what she went through. But as I said mine is just one opinion, and no one sees things exactly the same as the next person.
 
  • #12
Originally posted by grassR00t
Because I was in the Military, I seem to have my own views of Jessica Lynch. She is in "no" way a Hero. Yes it is tragic that she was taken captive and abused, but that has happened to many American soldiers. I feel that she is using her experience for profitable purposes just as much as the Military was using her. I think the thing that topped it all off for me was when she came out with her book. I mean she did absolutely "NOTHING" to warrant a 1 million dollar book deal. She wasn’t even conscious through the whole thing. What about the POWs that went through all the interrogations? She was just a victim of bad circumstances. Where are a majority of the other POWs now? Oh yeah most of them are still "IN" the military fighting for a cause (reasonable or not). They did not use their experience as a reason to get released from the military early, and make money from it. To me they are the Hero's whose names should be held high. I don't care that she came out and said that she is not a Hero; she is still exploiting what she went through to make money, and within that she looses all respect for the tragedy of what she went through. But as I said mine is just one opinion, and no one sees things exactly the same as the next person.
Actually, that's pretty much my take on the whole thing, too.
 
  • #13
But the whole point is, she didnt go through anything. She didnt go down fighting, her gun was found and it hadnt fired a single shot, she wasnt raped or tortured. The Iraqi doctors that treated her actually tried returning her to American soldiers but where unsuccesful, and the amazing special forces rescue was in a hopsital that was minimum security.

Im not taking anything away from her, i have no doubt that she is a very brave woman, it takes a hell of a lot of courage just to go there, but how sad is it that the governement tried using this for propaganda.
 
  • #14
Originally posted by grassR00t
Where are a majority of the other POWs now? Oh yeah most of them are still "IN" the military fighting for a cause (reasonable or not). They did not use their experience as a reason to get released from the military early, and make money from it.

She was rendered physically unable to serve because of her injuries.

This is America. If you can make money, you do. Besides, she sold her story to set the record straight. Many people were getting rich telling lies about her, she can hardly be faulted in the slightest for wanting to tell the truth. It would be different if she were the first one to sell her story.

Originally posted by Andy
But the whole point is, she didnt go through anything.

Two broken legs, one broken arm one broken foot one broken ankle a broken lumbar vertabra, causing temporary paralyzation, requiring spinal surgury to repair is not "nothing".

Njorl
 
  • #15
Originally posted by Njorl
This is America. If you can make money, you do. Besides, she sold her story to set the record straight. Many people were getting rich telling lies about her, she can hardly be faulted in the slightest for wanting to tell the truth. It would be different if she were the first one to sell her story.

So that makes it right for her to sell her story for 1 million dollars! So that she can tell the truth. If she wanted to do just that, then she could have said it on the news and left it at that. Your right this is America and you do have the right to make money off anthing that you can. So she is using the American public, just as bad as she was used by the government, to make a buck. Hmmm,then why is everyone complaining about how she was used? Why not complain about how she is abusing the system also.

Originally posted by Njorl
Two broken legs, one broken arm one broken foot one broken ankle a broken lumbar vertabra, causing temporary paralyzation, requiring spinal surgury to repair is not "nothing".

Your right, I agree that I should have read up a bit more about her injuries before saying what I did. She does have injuries warrenting a discharge. But the fact is she still did "nothing" to warrent any recognition, other than she was rescued.

One of my biggest problems with the whole Jessica Lynch fiasco is all the poor Jessica websites, magizine articals, etc.. We don't really hear anything about the other POWs that were rescued. That is because they are not prancing around the TV seen to just say "I was used by the Government, now buy my book". And because she was out there promoting her book, she was actually too busy to meet the Lawyer that saved her life when he arrived in the US. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/Iraq/2003/10/27/238789-cp.html That just goes to show what her agenda is.

I don't agree with the Gov. either though. They picked her because she was a "young, white, female", nothing more. What about the young black female, or the 2 male helicopter pilots? Nothing. So yes, the Gov. was also wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right do they?

Originally posted by Zero
She has proven herself to be a hero in speaking out against her use as a propaganda tool. We should all be super proud of her.

For what? All she is doing is using the American public for the same reasons (Bottom line: the Goverment used her to get more money to keep the war going. She's using the American public to for the same thing, money). I'm speaking out against what she is doing. Does that make me a Hero also? What would impress me is if she decided to use that money that she has made and put it to a good cause, not just get rich and fat off of it.
 
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  • #16
Two broken legs, one broken arm one broken foot one broken ankle a broken lumbar vertabra, causing temporary paralyzation, requiring spinal surgury to repair is not "nothing".

It would appear that i overlooked this, when i said she went through nothing i should have said that once captured she wasnt subjected to any torture or rape.
 
  • #18
but how sad is it that the governement tried using this for propaganda.

What I think is even more horrible is the government using HER for their propaganda.
 
  • #19
So exactly what has all that propaganda been that is so offensive?
 
  • #20
She really did have some problems, and I believe she still can't walk unaided. Yes, she had a rough time, and serious injuries.

The problem is that the whitehouse turned it into a Rambo movie. They claimed she was being beaten and tortured by evil Iraqi bad guys, to show the world how nasty those pesky Iraqis are, further justifying the whole adventure. They made a big deal about the super-brave special forces guys who went in doing their ninja stuff to rescue her.
 
  • #21
I can safely say that I hate that *****.
 
  • #22
Originally posted by Adam
They made a big deal about the super-brave special forces guys who went in doing their ninja stuff to rescue her.


They are braver than you are, and I salute them for their duty :)
 
  • #23
Originally posted by Andy
It would appear that i overlooked this, when i said she went through nothing i should have said that once captured she wasnt subjected to any torture or rape.

you were there? you know this? Wow! WRite a book about it!

The rape claim is her, not the government, claim.
 
  • #24
Originally posted by phatmonky
you were there? you know this? Wow! WRite a book about it!

The rape claim is her, not the government, claim.
You have the EXACTLY backwards. The rape claim is the government's, not hers.
 
  • #25
Originally posted by phatmonky
They are braver than you are, and I salute them for their duty :)
You don't know who is braver than who...especially with the claims that the raid was staged for the cameras, and there was very little risk to the Special Forces guys who 'rescued' her.
 
  • #26
Originally posted by phatmonky
They are braver than you are, and I salute them for their duty :)

1) You have no idea who I am or what I have done.

2) Ad hominem attacks like that do not in any way provide an argument, and in fact show that you lack the capacity for such.

3) "Fat" and "Monkey".
 
  • #27
Originally posted by Zero
You have the EXACTLY backwards. The rape claim is the government's, not hers.
Ok, I don't really get how the government can have a voice, who is the government in this case that made these claims?

I mean, I was in the US until August so the whole media hoopla didn't escape me. What I saw is that the group was captured, video's came out of the POWs (without Jessica, she was missing). They showed lots of those video's of those POWs and pictures of Jessica.

Then the news came that they raided that hospital and found one POW, Jessica, and showed the footage. The other POWs of the group were still hostages, but Jessica was transported to Germany to stabilize.

Do I've got my storyline straight? Jessica came out first while the others were still captured?

Yes, she was made to represent a soldier gone done fighting, but in my opinion that was the media, I haven't noticed the US government having a hand in that. I was also aware during all that, that she was just part of the support troup and not actually a soldier.
 
  • #28
Originally posted by Zero
You have the EXACTLY backwards. The rape claim is the government's, not hers.


Unless the government wrote here book for her, you are wrong :)
 
  • #29
Originally posted by Zero
You don't know who is braver than who...especially with the claims that the raid was staged for the cameras, and there was very little risk to the Special Forces guys who 'rescued' her.

There's an inferred personality trait in someone who sarcastically refers to a special forces member as "super brave" doing "ninja stuff", that allows me to say such a thing :smile:

You can say there was little risk, after the fact, but they were in baghdad, in hospital that was still guarded with armed soldiers. Everyone loves to play down these guys because of the rest of the story, but simply being in baghdad at this point was a dangerous thing.
 
  • #30
Originally posted by phatmonky
you were there? you know this? Wow! WRite a book about it!

The rape claim is her, not the government, claim.

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/06/national/main582204.shtml

(CBS/AP) Iraqi doctors who treated former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch dismissed on Friday claims made in her biography that she was raped by her Iraqi captors.

Although Lynch said she has no memory of the sexual assault, medical records cited in the book — "I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story" — indicate that she was raped and sodomized by her Iraqi captors.

She claimed not remembering any assault. It's not uncommon for victims of abuse to repress or supress any painful memory. Medical records cited in the book claimed she was rape.


In an interview timed to coincide with the release of the book and the airing of TV movies about her ordeal, Lynch herself took issue with the way part of her story was told: She faulted the military for exaggerating her conduct in battle and the operation to rescue her.

"They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff," she said in an excerpt from the ABC interview. "It hurt in a way that people would make up stories that they had no truth about."

She also said there was no reason for her rescue from an Iraqi hospital to be filmed. "It's wrong," she said.

Footage of the rescue was aired repeatedly on television networks reporting how a special forces team bravely fought into and out of the hospital.

"I don't think it happened quite like that," Lynch said

Originally posted by phatmonky

You can say there was little risk, after the fact, but they were in baghdad, in hospital that was still guarded with armed soldiers. Everyone loves to play down these guys because of the rest of the story, but simply being in baghdad at this point was a dangerous thing.

From the same news article

It has since emerged that there were no Iraqi forces at the hospital, and that Iraqi doctors had tried to return Lynch to American forces but were forced to turn back when U.S. soldiers fired at them.


WOW! U.S. soldiers firing at Iraqi doctors, oops different thread. All kidding aside, I have great respect for the Special Forces guys, and familiar with the type of training and missions they have to go through but this story was greatly exaggerated. On this situation there was much less risk on the Special Forces getting killed.
 
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  • #31
Originally posted by The_Professional

WOW! U.S. soldiers firing at Iraqi doctors, oops different thread. All kidding aside, I have great respect for the Special Forces guys, and familiar with the type of training and missions they have to go through but this story was greatly exaggerated. On this situation there was much less risk on the Special Forces getting killed.

hahaha, I agree whole heartedly with what you have just said.
The story was ridiculous, I have a hude disdain(sp?) for Ms. Lynch, and I have great respect for members of our military.
There was no doubt much less chance of them getting killed in real life than in the story, but let's be honest, to act as if they weren't brave or at risk is ridiculous in itself. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be in baghdad at that point in time, even with a gun and night vision.
 
  • #32
Originally posted by phatmonky
There's an inferred personality trait in someone who sarcastically refers to a special forces member as "super brave" doing "ninja stuff", that allows me to say such a thing :smile:

You can say there was little risk, after the fact, but they were in baghdad, in hospital that was still guarded with armed soldiers. Everyone loves to play down these guys because of the rest of the story, but simply being in baghdad at this point was a dangerous thing.
Why don't you try not psychoanalyzing people, ok?
 
  • #33
Originally posted by Monique
Ok, I don't really get how the government can have a voice, who is the government in this case that made these claims?
Since no one is able to respond, I conclude it was infact the media who took the story and ran away with it.
 
  • #34
Originally posted by Monique
Since no one is able to respond, I conclude it was infact the media who took the story and ran away with it.
Specifically, it was the media runniong with DOD spin, without actually checking any of the facts.
 
  • #35
Originally posted by Zero
Why don't you try not psychoanalyzing people, ok?

I can only deal with what is posted master zero [zz)]
 
  • #36
Originally posted by phatmonky
I can only deal with what is posted master zero [zz)]
Try dealing with teh points of the thread, not your opinion of the people, ok?

And check your PM inbox.
 
  • #37
Originally posted by Zero
Specifically, it was the media runniong with DOD spin, without actually checking any of the facts.

I thought the origional report was through an embedded reporter and then through centcom. Wasn't the filming done by an embed and then edited by either centcom or the pentagon?
 
  • #38
Originally posted by kat
I thought the origional report was through an embedded reporter and then through centcom. Wasn't the filming done by an embed and then edited by either centcom or the pentagon?
Well, embedded reporters are the first line of the Pentagon spin machine, aren't they?
 
  • #39
Originally posted by Zero
Well, embedded reporters are the first line of the Pentagon spin machine, aren't they?

lol, considering it's the many of the same media outlets that have embeds that were later pointing fingers...
 
  • #40
Originally posted by kat
lol, considering it's the many of the same media outlets that have embeds that were later pointing fingers...
Yeah, well, it friggin took them long enough, didn't it?
 
  • #41
Originally posted by Zero
Yeah, well, it friggin took them long enough, didn't it?
I think this comment officially makes you a sucker:wink: :wink:
 
  • #42
Originally posted by kat
I think this comment officially makes you a sucker:wink: :wink:
I think your comment just made you a target...
 
  • #43
Originally posted by Zero
I think your comment just made you a target...

oops!
 
  • #44
Originally posted by kat
oops!
It is your own fault...I'm looking at the Nuclear Posture Review, and I think I can adapt it to you pretty easliy...

OK, you get one reply, and then let's get back on topic, ok?
 
  • #45
Origionally posted by Phat man scoop
you were there? you know this? Wow! WRite a book about it!

I am only posting to what has been said, and the proof of what actually happened out there.

To be in the Military you have to be brave, nobody is questioning that, it is only the mission that is being questioned.
 
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  • #46
Originally posted by Andy

To be in the Military you have to be brave, nobody is questioning that, it is only the mission that is being questioned.

Exactly
 
  • #47
Damn you Zero! I was only trying to have some fun!

and yes i know the rules. :frown:
 

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