← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Ed Toner
Thread ID: 11030 | Posts: 15 | Started: 2003-11-11
2003-11-11 19:30 | User Profile
[url]http://www.zeppscommentaries.com/VRWC/jessica.htm[/url]
Jessica Lynch. How she came to be a hero
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson 11/09/03 [url]http://www.zeppscommentaries.com/VRWC/jessica.htm[/url]
Heroism is, quite often, a choice to do the right thing when it
would be far easier to do nothing at all.
Private Jessica Lynch could quite easily have smiled and waved to
the cameras and let the money roll in, knowing that in a few months, public attention would have moved on and her life would revert to normal, or at least as normal as a retired media- created hero can expect to have.
It wouldn't be a bad life. She would start out with a nice big
grubstake that she could use to buy a house and a new car and plough the rest into a retirement fund and have a fairly comfortable life. And when she's recognized, she can look forward to deferential cops not giving her a ticket for speeding, free meals at restaurants, and the occasional request to come to a junior high and give a lecture on patriotism. Not bad for a girl who joined the army only because she couldn't get a job at the local supermarket and had to do SOMETHING.
The right wing spin machine needed her. Putsch needed her. So
the questions that were raised, mostly in the foreign press, about the exact nature of her capture and subsequent rescue, could be contained. Despite the fact that these elements were widely reported and are worthy of attention, it would come as a complete shock to most blissfully unaware Americans that not only did she not get captured while fighting like a wildcat, shooting and knifing a half dozen Iraqi soldiers, but that it was widely reported in the foreign media that the "rescue" was staged, in part if not wholly. Veterans' groups objected to her receiving a Bronze Star for what is widely known to be a fabricated account of her capture, especially since none of her companions got such awards, despite being subject to the same capture and treatment. Shamefully, this includes one woman who did go down fighting. It will be somewhat surprising to learn that several of the troops who "rescued" Jessica have died in action in Iraq since, a rather high percentage of them. That one has become the stuff of legend among the myriad conspiracy mongers on the Internet.
The GOP, masters at outshouting and intimidating what's left of
America's free press, and adept at convincing their brainwashed followers that any voice other than theirs is at best misguided and is at worst evil, could make those concerns go away. Never mind that Jessica, groggy from the car accident, was simply toted away on a stretcher with various broken bones and lacerations: if Putsch's crowd decided she went down fighting like a wildcat, firing rounds and shouting defiance despite dozens of bullet and stab wounds, well then, that's what she did. Her role in the farce was to simply punt; say she didn't remember the events of her capture. It would be easy enough to drown out the doctors who pointed out that she didn't have any bullet or stab wounds. In fact, the Administration admitted it, but mentioned that Iraqi doctors said that, and failed to mention that American doctors did too. Every red blooded patriot automatically knew that Republicans always tell the truth and Iraqi doctors always lie, right?
As for the rescue, why, it's just the word of brave American
soldiers against a bunch of Iraqis, right? It's not hard to guess which side the American public is going to believe. If the London Guardian reported that the Americans made damned sure there were no enemy combatants in the hospital before they reenacted the Blues Brothers SWAT assault on Chicago's City Hall (complete with synchronized rope climb and "Hut! Hut! Hut!"), well, that just shows that the London Guardian is a socialist rag, and the English are no more our allies than the French are or Saddam is.
It's a sad fact that many Americans swallow that kind of crap
without even blinking.
Jessica could have just sat back, smiled for the cameras, and let
the right wing propaganda machine do all the work. It would have been so easy, and certainly, there was no financial or career gain to be made by saying anything that might stop the latest GOP fool's parade.
I don't know what made Jessica decide to speak up over the past
48 hours, just before the made-for-bad-TV movie, "The Jessica Lynch Story" was due to air. NBC is flying that turkey.
A book, also a product of the VRWC spin machine, written by some
hack who left the New York Times under a cloud for shoddy journalistic practices, claimed that she had been sodomized while held captive, and perhaps that was the final straw. It's believed that being sodomized by a prison guard while a POW caused Lawrence of Arabia to stop being the epitome of a modern major general (so to speak. he was actually a captain) and follow his own tangent. The breathless, nay, PURPLE prose of the book relates it this way: "Jessi lost three hours. She lost them in the snapping bones, in the crash of the Humvee, in the torment her enemies inflicted on her after she was pulled from it [...] The records do not tell whether her captors assaulted her almost lifeless, broken body after she was lifted from the wreckage, or if they assaulted her and then broke her bones into splinters until she was almost dead." Of course, the records also don't tell if she was raped or not. Details, details.
Maybe she simply didn't want people thinking that she got
buggered by several Iraqis when she personally had no memory of such an event occurring, and no doctor has made any claim that such an event occurred. Maybe she was disgusted by what to her was a cheap propaganda ploy, on the level of "Iraqis spilled babies out of their incubators," and wasn't willing to go along with it in order to increase sales. It had to be disquieting that while she vividly remembers many of the people involved in her rescue, both Iraqi and American, she has no memory at all of the Iraqi being touted as key to her rescue, Muhammad al-Rehaief, the lawyer. He got a freebie US citizenship and a book deal out of that.
Maybe she noticed that her fellow soldiers in the maintenance
pool unit, who had all been in the same accident, been taken to the same hospital, and been "rescued" in the same way, but who didn't get the same medals or the same treatment, were left out in the cold looking in, even though Jessica did nothing to distinguish herself from them. Lynch got a full disability pension while Shoshana Johnson, the black cook who was also wounded and captured by Iraqis, will receive barely a third of Lynch's discharge package. And of course, no million dollar book deals, no Vanity Fair covers, no made-for-mawkish-television movies. She DID remember one of her colleagues went down fighting after the accident as Iraqis approached to take her prisoner, but it wasn't her. She was too busy praying. It was Lori Piestewa, who was killed.
Maybe Lynch was disgusted with what is going on in Iraq, and
didn't want to promote it.
Maybe her motives were noble and selfless, maybe it was just a
matter of disgust, both with the paid liars who had taken over her life and at herself for going along with it.
But she did speak out.
She first went on Dateline, and told the flummoxed NBC reporter,
who was just doing a reporter's job and promoting the Sunday night movie, that the movie did not accurately portray her life or the rescue.
Then she accused the administration of manipulating her story for
propaganda purposes, and said, 'They used me to symbolize all this stuff. It's wrong. I don't know why they filmed it, or why they say these things.'
The right wing has been vigorously ignoring her statements in
their monumental hypocrisy. The same people who just last week screamed bloody murder because another made- for-TV movie had Reagan saying, "Those who live in sin die in sin." This statement made him appear cold and indifferent to the suffering of AIDS victims, and this annoyed the right wingers because Reagan really was cold and indifferent to the suffering of AIDS victims, but might not have actually said those words. I don't want to imagine what this crowd would say if the movie had claimed he was taken prisoner and buggered, or that he really did try to save that bombardier's life, or whatever. But they are ignoring Jessica's protests.
Eventually, they will notice, and in the inverted values that
infest the right wing, will turn on her, and call her a traitor and a coward.
But she has spoken out.
Maybe she didn't go down fighting, maybe she wasn't mistreated,
and maybe her rescue was really nothing but cheap posturing by a Pentagon grown frantic over the slow pace of the war.
But at least now she can truly lay claim to personal courage, and
to being an authentic American hero.
-- 'A people living under the perpetual menace of war and invasion is very easy to govern. It demands no social reforms. It does not haggle over expenditures on armaments and military equipment. It pays without discussion, it ruins itself, and that is an excellent thing for the syndicates of financiers and manufacturers for whom patriotic terrors are an abundant source of gain.' Anatole France
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2003-11-11 20:14 | User Profile
Jessica Lynch: The Dead Witnesses by "Picasso Dreams" November 10, 2003 Sure enough, Pfc Lynch has selective amnesia and cannot remember the events of her capture and rescue . . .
When the Department of Defense insisted on keeping up their official version of the rescue, I knew that inevitably some of Lynch's rescuers would be hushed. After all, here is a woman who endured a few broken limbs from a vehicle accident and is rewarded with a million bucks, while her rescuers continue to live without toilets and running water in a Depleted Uranium wasteland. . . .
Four of Pfc. Lynch's rescuers and colleagues have met an early demise.
Petty Officer First Class David M. Tapper died of wounds received in Afghanistan. He took part in the rescue.
Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung was killed [in a backyard by an unknown assailant]. He was also part of the rescue team.
Spc Josh Daniel Speer died when his car crashed into some trees for no apparent reason. He was part of the rescue team.
Kyle Edward Williams, who worked in the same company as Lynch, died of "suicide". [left no note]
Note also this from Drudge Nov. 7:
JESSICA LYNCH DISPUTES ARMY ACCOUNT OF DRAMATIC RESCUE!...
2003-11-11 20:58 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Ed Toner]Maybe she noticed that her fellow soldiers in the maintenance pool unit, who had all been in the same accident, been taken to the same hospital, and been "rescued" in the same way, but who didn't get the same medals or the same treatment, were left out in the cold looking in, even though Jessica did nothing to distinguish herself from them. Lynch got a full disability pension while Shoshana Johnson, the black cook who was also wounded and captured by Iraqis, will receive barely a third of Lynch's discharge package. [/QUOTE]
Liberals don't have any more affinity for the truth than do neocons. Ms. Johnson had fewer injuries than Lynch. Ms. Johnson's disability payments are permanent while Lynch's are not. Lynch will face future medical reviews and it is certain her payments will drop to the same level as Ms. Johson's.
So, where's the military slight that has Ms. Johnson and her liberal supporters yelling racism? Even if Lynch is getting special treatment, I would still doubt racism has anything to do with it. What of the other whites who were captured but not getting Lynch's attention?
The media wants heros, sometimes it's a white girl like Lynch, sometime's its an incompetent black boob like Police Chief Moose. There certainly is no cultural bias in America that a white would be prefered over a black. In fact, the very opposite.
2003-11-11 21:00 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Ed Toner]Jessica Lynch: The Dead Witnesses by "Picasso Dreams" November 10, 2003 Sure enough, Pfc Lynch has selective amnesia and cannot remember the events of her capture and rescue . . .
When the Department of Defense insisted on keeping up their official version of the rescue, I knew that inevitably some of Lynch's rescuers would be hushed. After all, here is a woman who endured a few broken limbs from a vehicle accident and is rewarded with a million bucks, while her rescuers continue to live without toilets and running water in a Depleted Uranium wasteland. . . .
Four of Pfc. Lynch's rescuers and colleagues have met an early demise.
Petty Officer First Class David M. Tapper died of wounds received in Afghanistan. He took part in the rescue.
Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung was killed [in a backyard by an unknown assailant]. He was also part of the rescue team.
Spc Josh Daniel Speer died when his car crashed into some trees for no apparent reason. He was part of the rescue team.
Kyle Edward Williams, who worked in the same company as Lynch, died of "suicide". [left no note]
Note also this from Drudge Nov. 7:
JESSICA LYNCH DISPUTES ARMY ACCOUNT OF DRAMATIC RESCUE!...[/QUOTE]
This is sinister stuff if it is true, Ed, and I hope it isn't. And now they are saying that Lynch was raped and sodomized by her captors. Kobe alledgedly raped and sodomized his victim. Is there any coincidence why both of these are simular and getting high press?
2003-11-11 21:09 | User Profile
It's on TV Tonight 1000PM EST
2003-11-11 21:41 | User Profile
The media wants heros, sometimes it's a white girl like Lynch, sometime's its an incompetent black boob like Police Chief Moose. There certainly is no cultural bias in America that a white would be prefered over a black. In fact, the very opposite.
If Shoshana looked like Halle Barry and Jessica looked like Roseanne Barr, who wants to bet Shoshana would be the media hero?
2003-11-11 22:21 | User Profile
Wasn't it reported recently that Jessica was supposed to come clean about the whole incident? Perhaps she had decided to, and her controllers turned her. The Jessica Lynch episode really smells to the heavens. But the whole Iraq deal smells.
2003-11-11 22:21 | User Profile
Four of Pfc. Lynch's rescuers and colleagues have met an early demise.
Well, now that PFC Lynch has wandered off the reservation, maybe her new 'spanic husband will suddenly be afflicted with a case of the "domestic violences" and snap the neck of the once-media-darling now administration-embarassment, solving the problem nicely and providing endless fodder for more "a woman is beaten by her spouse every four nanoseconds in this country" agitprop.
Man, am I cynical or what? :smoke:
Of course, t'would be better were her husband a cracker, lest the lemmings get the wrong idea about the superior benevolence of minorities, but sometimes you gotta play the hand you're dealt.
2003-11-12 00:09 | User Profile
I didn't know all of that was going on. I got sick of that whole thing weeks ago. I guess it was getting hard to look in the mirror, but I didn't read anything about her splitting her new fortune with her service buddies, or giving back the medal.
If I remember correctly, I believe her "rescue" was when Bush was taking heat for the front line guys not having enough crucial supplies for a few days. I used to think Bush was stupid. Now, I think his whole crew just doesn't give a d*** about anything but their careers.
2003-11-12 00:31 | User Profile
[B]News on the Radio: Larry Flint said he has pictures of Jessica Lynch dancing Topless for a group of male soldiers.[/B]
Newspaper article on Larry Flint and the Jessica Lynch photos [url]http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031111.wlync1111/BNStory/Entertainment/[/url]
2003-11-12 15:16 | User Profile
I have discovered that Lynch is dumb as a rock. Dumb people aren't very good liars so there wasn't much chance that she would maintain the government's fiction about her capture and rescue.
But, being dumb is one of the qualities the media looks for when making heroes.
2003-11-13 00:53 | User Profile
The Guardian (UK) has a Jewish editor.
Lynch is silly, and photogenic (enough), which makes her useful fodder for manipulation.
Beyond that no one cares - she distracted people (successfully) from the truth of this Crusader war.
2003-11-13 19:22 | User Profile
Jessica in Hustler?
[IMG]http://www.blogasm.org/smiles/24.gif[/IMG]
2003-11-13 21:51 | User Profile
Many women of my acquaintence wanted this foul story to be oh so true. Some of them told me it was true, as it was reported in the media. How could people be so naive? The storey was following an obvious GI Jill comic book script from the start. Have we as a nation lost our critical faculties that many of us believe such low farce put out as propaganda.
2003-11-13 22:24 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Craig Smith]The Guardian (UK) has a Jewish editor. [/QUOTE] Great. :taz: They still seem to post stuff that bugs Bush, though. How do you know this is true?
[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4420610,00.html[/url]