Sometimes you have to to stand back and applaud someone who refuses to take the easy option and stand up for what they believe, despite the possible consequences. Former US private Jessica Lynch is sure to face a character assassination along the lines of Cindy Sheehan from the pro-War and pro-Bushites but you have to admire the way she condemns efforts to turn her into a "little girl Rambo", and accused military chiefs of using "elaborate tales" to try to make her into a hero of the Iraq war.
The easy thing to do would be to allow the plaudits and fame to wash over her and achieve instant fame but instead she has taken the much bumpier road of the truth.
The Pentagon initially put out the story that Private Lynch had been wounded by Iraqi gunfire but kept fighting until her ammunition ran out. In fact, her gun had jammed and she did not fire a shot.
Reports also suggested that Ms Lynch had been abused after she came round in the hospital. She said the reports were lies and she had been treated well and the Iraqis had tried to return her to US forces.
Yet more lies and propaganda by the perpetrators of this devastatingly wrong war uncovered.
19 comments:
I never had any actual disrespect for her, but since she spoke up for the truth I have far more respect for her than before. And yet, despite the fact that the administration and the military cannot back up their actions without telling these fables, we still have people on the air speaking as if those who oppose the war "just don't get it." I'm at the point where I consider people like Limabaugh, O'Reilly, and Glen Beck to be true enemies of my country.
I applaud Lynch. I get the feeling she was swept away by the ball of feel-good-pretty-blonde-girl-bad-bad-Iraqis-propaganda that just got bigger as it rolled downhill. Something that popped in me head though, what does she now do with the advance she got for (basically) agreeing to a book of lies?
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Soldier-Too-Jessica-Lynch/dp/1400077478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9598215-6671914?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177519322&sr=8-1
I remember her saying it was a bunch of hoey back in the day, too, but the made for TV movie still appeared. I wonder how much control she, as opposed to the army, had over that and the book.
I didn't know she had a book advance, interesting. I imagine the pressure she was under to play along with the whole lie was enormous. I also imagine the slurs about her will also be forthcoming, if there hasn't been any already.
The first casualty of war is truth.
Seems to be the first casualty of the peace movement as well. Coincidence?
I always thought Jessica wasn't exactly comfratabel with the way she had been portrayed. I'm glad she has come out with this. My respect for her has gone up considerably as well.
The original apocraphyl Lynch story was the perfect microcosm of all of the lies, deception, lazy-journalism, wishful thinking and allround bullshit that accompanied the first few stanzas of the illegal invasion & occupation of Iraq i.e. yet another pretty picture those lying bastards tried to paint for us that turned out to be a forgery.
"Seems to be the first casualty of the peace movement as well."
Bokko! Kapow! ;-) Hang on though, wasn't it the 'war movement' who were caught out telling porky pies here... um, again?
Mark does have a good point though, there has been way too much lies and shit thrown around both sides of the issue. DEATH TO ALL WHO LIE. Oh, wait a minute, that's not nice either.
"Never Mind" - Emily Litella (Gilda Radner, SNL)
Examples, war folks. EXAMPLES. Along with some demonstration of how lying in order to begin and continue a war is the morally superior position.
Speaking of Bokko! Kapow! Did anyone catch Bill Moyers' Buying The War doc on PBS? An awesome chronicle of how the vast majority of the media took in the Bushco lies. Bob Simon (60 Minutes) and two Knight-Ridder reporters were notable exceptions. The K-R guys didn't stand a chance against the flood of editorials and other assorted BS from the "liberal" NYT and WaPo.
Yeah, there was a lot of media support for the WMD and Sadaam/Al Queda lies. These things were pretty much reported as truth. It was when the stories about inadequate armor and equipment, as well as the lack of WMDs, and of course the whole torture thing, started appearing that they went back to the old line of "liberal bias". I love it when someone singles out CNN as liberal, especially when I see Glen Beck screaming "communist" at anyone who doesn't like the war.
I know your media took some stick this side for not asking more searching questions of Bush & co in the build up to Iraq, but there was a good few here swallowing the Blair line to begin with.
Tha fact that anyone can still support this war, or have even a shred of belief in ANY of the lies used to justify astounds me.
I don't think all of the war supporters are idiots (though many are), but certainly anyone who still thinks the WMDs, Al Qaeda links, 9/11 links, etc nonsese has any validity is either a liar themselves, or so close-minded and blind with their own personal prejudices as to basically be in a completely alternate reality.
Somehow I find it difficult to see any lies perpetrated by those of us who opposed this from the start.
Ook ook
Belive it or not, Fez, I still meet people who say "You'll be surprised when they finally find those weapons he had stashed!" I have to reply, "Yes, that would surprise me very, very much!"
These are by and large the same people who say that the soldiers should be allowed to do the job they were sent there for, but they can never tell me how the Democrats are stopping the soldiers from doing their job. The best they can do is to tell me that they need to be left alone and not brought to task for every "mistake". They then get resentful when I ask if killing the civilians they are ostensibly there to liberate is "the job."
The fact is that on 9/11, these people became fearful of any and all muslims, and don't care who they are, as long as they get killed.
I supported the initial bombing campaign because Saddam had violated the no-fly zones repeatedly, plus it was not inconceivable he had WMDs (as we had given him some) and would sell them to AQ or whomever. This support had nothing to do with hating Muslims, and insisting it was sounds as silly as declaring all who are against the war are traitors. But that's okay cuz I'm a traitor now for being against the upfuckedness of it all.
Paula- I wasn't talking about people who supported the war in the beginning, although I thought they were wrong at that time. My above comment is about those people who STILL assert that we will find the weapons, and that Sadaam and Osama are in the same club. Those who, unlike you, deny the facts that have appeared and still support on blind faith only. You know the type I'm talking about.... they're on their umpteenth justification of the war and anything that doesn't support it is a concocton of the "liberal media."
Oh, okay. :)
I met lots of people who were pro war at the time, but like Paula, have changed their minds and anyone with that amount of objectivity and can change their minds have to be applauded.
The people who refuse to even aknowledge the possibilty that they were wrong and still try to jump through hoops to justify it, well, what can you say about them apart from they are not worth attempting to reason with.
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