Jessica Lynch Interview

[Dr. Shane]

Reading this interview one can see how disappointed the bias, liberal reporter is with her answeres.

Jessica Lynch Testifies

R:What was the greatest misinformation about you?

L:The whole Rambo story, that I went down fighting. It just wasn’t the truth.

R:So what really happened?

L:I didn’t even get a shot off. My weapon had jammed. And I didn’t even get to fire. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the back of our [Humvee], which made Lori [Piestewa], my friend, lose control of the vehicle, and we slammed into the back of another truck in our unit.

What? That is the conspiracy? The military claimed she went down fighting when in reality her rifle jammed.

R:Who is to blame for spreading the misinformation?

LWell, I think really the military and the media. The military, for not setting the record straight and the media for spreading it, and not seeking the true facts. They just ran with it instead of waiting until the facts were straightened out.

No, no, no!!! Wrong answer. Bush, Chenney, Rumsfield! They are to blame. Not the military and no no no way the media. Not the precious nonbias, purely objective media. Boy, did she ever get that answer wrong.

R:You said during your testimony you weren’t there for political reasons. But do you have an opinion about how the administration used your story and Tillman’s story for political gain?

L:I don’t know because there’s no way of knowing why this stuff was even created in the first place. Only the people who created it would have the answers.

This reporter has a thick head. She blames the military and media for the misinformation. NOT THE ADMINISTRATION!!!

R:You said in your testimony that Iraqi nurses actually tried to return you once to the Americans. What happened?

L:We were fired upon, and [the] driver of the ambulance had to turn around and brought me back to the hospital.

R:So the Iraqis were trying to return you?

L:Yeah, hopefully that’s what they were doing. That’s what I was told they were doing. We were headed to a checkpoint and we were fired upon.

R:If the Iraqis wanted to give you back, why did the military stage a big rescue? Couldn’t they just knock on the hospital door?

L:I don’t know. I hope that they had my interests in mind, and were wanting to get me out of there.

Does this reporter understand how much hindsight is influencing his questions? If the US military had known the ambulance was trying to return an American POW, does anyone think they would have fired on it??? Obviously they didn't know who was in the ambulance or what they were doing.

OK, I think this reporter needs to get the Homer Simpson award in journalism.

[Bravus]

Leaving aside the commentary, I think Jessica Lynch's point in her testimony was courageous and well made. "Don't manufacture fake heroes". I don't think it's even about partisan politics and blaming the administration, it's about co-opting real people as actors in a drama. Pat Tillman was a good man and a courageous one, and lying about how he died fails to honor that goodness and courage, IMO. Same with Jessica Lynch: she may not have been a Rambo-esque action heroine, but she was a brave young woman in harm's way a long way from home.

[Dr. Shane]

I understand that some in the military and the media tried to make Jessica Lynch into a hero. Just going over there makes a person a hero in my book. However, from the time I first heard the story, the "super" heros were the special operations unit that went in and rescued Private Lynch. Now trying to cast a shadow on the story casts a shadow on their real heroism.

The lies about Pat Tillman came out of his unit and later from the upper command above his unit. Tillman was a star NFL player. I have always thought that he probably had a chip on his shoulder, his fellow soldiers got sick of dealing with him, so they killed him. Then they (his unit) tried to cover it up. Once upper command caught on that a cover up was going on, they had already released misleading information, so they tried to cover up their mistake. Nothing I have read about that story has led me to believe the Pentagon was involved in the cover-up.

It is hard for me to relate the two stories. One is a real cover-up about what could actually be conspiracy and murder. The other is an exaggeration made before the facts were clear.

[Bravus]

Bit rude to cast aspersions on Pat Tillman's character and personality on the basis of assumptions and his job. He coulod have been the most humble and best soldier in the unit, and still got caught in the crossfire. We don't know either way, so it's probably better not to guess, particularly if it involves dishonouring his memory.

[Dr. Shane]

When I served in the military I was in with a lot of Vietnam veterans. I was told that most friendly fire accidents are not accidents at all. A lot of times when we would have problems with someone, a Vietnam vet would remark, "a guy like that would get shot in combat, and not by the enemy either." Remember our little discussion about gun control and how many more homicides we would have if everyone carried a gun? Well, in combat, everyone does carry a gun. It is conjecture but that is a real possibility that this Congressional Committee has to consider if they are going to investigate the incident.

We had a real screwball in a unit I was in. Once, when in the field, we filled his boots with sand and then dropped his tent on him in the middle of the night. Another time we put bags of open junk food in his tent so the bears would knock it down looking for it while he was sleeping. When I was in basic training a couple guys in my room gave another guy a blanket party that landed him in the hospital. They ended up getting court marshaled. So I know the kind of vengeance soldiers get on other soldiers and that was during peace time.

[Jeannieb43]

With all due respect, Shane, trying to compare your combat unit with Pat Tillman's is like trying to compare caterpillars with butterflies. Your unit was probably mostly wet-behind-the-ears kids just out of high school; whereas Pat Tillman was a college graduate and a football hero of many years. Besides that, his own BROTHER was in the same unit and was an eyewitness. [brother has testified before Congress; read about it in the newspapers.]

Jessica Lynch's testimony was exactly what Bravus said: Don't make heroes out of every wounded soldier. She was just doing her job.

And the Tillman brother said the same thing: Don't try to make political gain out of a soldier who died in the war. Maybe he was targeted by his "buddies" but then again maybe it was an accident between the two combat units.

At any rate, it's true: War is Hell.

It's too bad our Administration went into this battle voluntarily.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Shane, trying to compare your combat unit with Pat Tillman's is like trying to compare caterpillars with butterflies.

I don't think that is being fair. I was comparing the Vietnam veteran's experience that I served with to the present situation. I think there is some comparison between the combat experience in Vietnam and that in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kevin Tillman was a witness in the Congressional hearing - not a witness of his brother getting killed. He was in a near by convey but did not see it happen.

An AP story yesterday said, "Last month the military concluded in a pair of reports that nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting Tillman's death but that there was no criminal wrongdoing in his shooting — a conclusion the family has disputed." So it seems the family suspects foul-play too.

I have followed this story from the beginning. At one point I even read where Tillman and the guy with him both signaled the guy on the other hill that they were Americans but he shot them anyway. I can't remember those details well and a google search now is going to be filled with the recent hearings. The other soldiers in his unit even burned his body armor to hide that it was friendly fire. That doesn't sound like they were trying to cover up an accident.

BTW: my experience that I relayed was just to make the point that soldiers get vengeful. I never served in combat so I must rely on the experience of the combat vets I served with as to how soldiers act out when they have bullets in the rifles.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Jessica Lynch's testimony was exactly what Bravus said: Don't make heroes out of every wounded soldier. She was just doing her job.

First, the big-time heroes in the story are those in the special ops that saved Jessica.

Second, her gun jammed! Do we all understand what that means? It means she tried to use it! So the story that made her a hero said she fought back when the truth is she only tried to fight back. Sorry, I miss the big conspiracy there.

Third, every man and woman that volunteers to go into combat is a hero. So let's not downplay their heroism.

[Dr. Shane]

I found the story.

Army Withheld Details About Tillman's Death

In interviews with Jones, soldiers who were with Tillman when he died said they immediately reported that other Rangers, riding in a Humvee, emptied their weapons at his position on a hill without first identifying whom they were shooting. Perceiving they were in a heated firefight, the soldiers rounded a corner and used several high-powered weapons to kill an Afghan Militia Force soldier working with the Rangers before pausing and turning their guns on Tillman. About 65 meters away, Tillman had been waving his arms and throwing a smoke grenade to signal his unit that he was not an enemy fighter.

So they were about 65 meters (or yards) from him, he was signaling them and they thought he was an enemy combatant? My yard is more than 65 yards from one end to the other and I can easily make out someone from one end to the other.

One of the initial investigators, who issued a finding of "gross negligence" by the soldiers who shot Tillman, told Jones he felt the punishments did not fit with his finding. The investigator said he felt the chain of command allowed the soldiers to change their stories to protect individuals.

"They didn't get their due just punishment," the investigator, whose name is censored in the report, told Jones. "I guess that's why I was frustrated at how it all unfolded."

[Dr. Shane]

Do I have to tell the entire story over again? It is chronicled in the book, "I Am A Soldier Too"

Nurses were trying to return her in an ambulance. She was in a civilian hospital but the Fedayeen had a command post in it. It was during the invasion. Saddam was still in power. It was not as if American soldiers could have walked up to the hospital and knocked on the door as this Homer Simpson reporter tends to think.

While Jessica Lynch did not fight back like Rambo, she was captured, tortured and raped anally.

Quote:

So who was she 'saved' from?

The Fedayeen

Here is the story that is the reason we are having Congressional hearings.

Initial news reports, including those in The Washington Post, which cited unnamed U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports, described Lynch emptying her M-16 into Iraqi soldiers. The intelligence reports from intercepts and Iraqi informants said that Lynch fought fiercely, was stabbed and shot multiple times, and that she killed several of her assailants.

"She was fighting to the death," one of the officials was quoted as saying. "She did not want to be taken alive."

So what now? Since military officials lied about her fighting back she is no longer a hero? Give me a break. She went into hell believing Saddam had WMDs and ready to use them on her. She was captured, tortured and raped. But she isn't a hero and Americans are wrong to think of her as one?

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Tillman the Bad guy so that "higher ups" can be clean.

I am not saying Tillman was a bad guy. I agree with his own family for goodness sake. I am saying that there is a pretty good chance that he was murdered by those in his unit. Follow the link I posted.

[Neil D]

Quote:

Jessica Lynch's testimony was exactly what Bravus said: Don't make heroes out of every wounded soldier. She was just doing her job.

Second, her gun jammed! Do we all understand what that means? It means she tried to use it! So the story that made her a hero said she fought back when the truth is she only tried to fight back. Sorry, I miss the big conspiracy there.

Third, every man and woman that volunteers to go into combat is a hero. So let's not downplay their heroism.

"the big conspiracy there" is that someone made her into a "super" hero when she was doing the same job that everyone else did. At the very least, that is what I am hearing. And it degrades what every other hero is doing out there...Thier job.

Someone in the Administration caught her story, and expanded it, and created a super hero when the public was looking for heros. They wanted another "Audry Murphy" when the administration wanted to keep things clouded and obscure and divert attention from one areana into this one....

That's the "big conspiracy", Shane. An Administration that lies and manufactors information from real people and shades the truth many degrees to feed what the public wants...sensationalizm and entertainment....

Where are our investigative reporters now? Why is our media so lazy that they react more like gossip columists rather than reportors...?

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Someone in the Administration caught her story, and expanded it

The evidence shows the Administration was not involved. The story was made up by someone in the military and spread by the media without verification. There were a lot of embedded reporters over there at the time. The media bares the lion's share of the blame as they were so anxious to break the story they did not wait for verification.

[Neil D]

I don't know if you remember Frank Renyolds or not, but he was an investiagive anchor for ABC, I believe...I really don't remember, but when breaking news was happening, and he found out about some stuff that he was reporting as actually happened when in fact it didn't, he made a comment....in anger, over the air...Let's get it right.

He died of cancer many years ago...one of the last of the investigative reporters...a trustee of the American trust department in reporting. Where are those type of reporters now?

Oh, and Shane...if I reflect that the American public feels betrayed by the lies of this Administration, don't be suprised if the American people attributte the poor story of Lynch et al as another fabrication of this disparate administration to avoid another fictious scandel. And don't tell me that the military fully produced this story...It's got Rove written all over it.

[Dr. Shane]

Within the last 15 years we have seen talk radio, satellite television and the internet all take off as new forms of communication. This has allowed the extremes in ideology to have a voice which is great for those that believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However it has divided people more than in the past.

Some American people have do feel they have been betrayed by lies from this Administration because that mantra has been repeated over and over and the President seems to think he is above having to defend himself. Thus he has allowed his enemies to define him. People that have taken the time to get their news from various sources are much less likely to be duped into believe the often repeated rhetoric about the Administration lying to the American people.

[Neil D]

Within the last 15 years we have seen talk radio, satellite television and the internet all take off as new forms of communication. This has allowed the extremes in ideology to have a voice which is great for those that believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However it has divided people more than in the past.

[Dr. Shane]

I have moved my response to another thread in this section so as not to take this thread off topic.