Lynch Hoax?

I have no position on this matter, but two out of two doctors agree…

Comments

[david f]

at least they call Private Lynch just that and not the patronizing "jessica"...

good ol' bbc for being on the ball with this one. snort. too bad they didn't muckrake this much about the USS Phoenix/ General Delgado in the faulklands war...

hrumph,
drf

[esmerelda]

i had read these reports in the international (non-us) and independant media within days of the alleged "rescue operation."

also glad to see this in the bbc. would love to see it on cnn!

[Thoth]

The good old BBC! Still the 'Beacon of Truth'.

[Lefty]

I'm curious about the amnesia. No head injuries were reported yet doctors predict she "probably never will" remember the two week ordeal.

[Ken]

I'm sure the saintly Iraqi "doctors" wouldn't lie about something like this. And I'm sure Dr. Mengele was at Auschwitz so he could patch up the little kids boo-boos and pass out suckers.

[david f]

hey lefty!

loss of memory is noted and described in times of great pain or duress -- where the memories are simply gone or foggy. just as many people describe not remembering the moment of a limb breaking or of when "the Drive" happened...

or such a loss happens at, say, a party where you wake up afterwards and have to chew yer arm off to get home safely. or something like that. or somehow you did click on the link to see Anna...

plus, they're paving the way for a lifetime special here.

does anybody else think that Capt. O'Grady and Private Lynch should hit the lecture curcuit or hook up?

in a fog,
drf

[Gilbert Martin]

The BBC is not (and never has been) an authority on anything.

[Jough]

What a bunch of Michael Moore journalism.

"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."

"Dramatic"? I take it John Kampfner does not consider the rescue operation dramatic? He doesn't directly state the confusion surrounding the story is the fault of the US military, but it seems pretty well implied. It might help if the "journalist" would investigate who reported events such as the bullet and stab wounds, rather than leave it up to the imagination of the reader.

"Witnesses told us that the special forces knew that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they swooped on the hospital."

Who are these witnesses? The same ones who made up the bullet wounds? Bath party officials? How could they know what the special forces knew? And was the military supposed to assume there were NO soldiers or security personnel in the hospital at the time?

"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."

Says who? Anonymous sources? No explanation for why troops might fire on an approaching vehicle either. I take it the reader is supposed to conclude the troops must be bad people?

[Phil]

Stories like this are easy to parse if you simply remember two things:

1) Everything everyone in the American military and government says is a lie.

2) Everything every critic of America says is the unvarnished truth.

Seriously.

[geophile]

"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."

How does Dr. Bombay, er, Uday know they were blanks exactly? Are Iraqi doctors also trained in munitions? Wouldn't surprize me if they were, but seriously. It's likely that they fired blanks in order to scare off civilians who might otherwise be in the way of the operation. Anyway, if it was all just done for show, why haven't I seen any video of anything akin to the firing of weapons in this operation. All I've seen of it is relatively antiseptic.

As to rest of that quote, it is a bit tendentious, isn't it? Or translated badly, or possibly taken out of context. Many people described the attacks of 9/11 as being like something out of a movie. Perhaps Lefty and Esmerelda would like to cast their incredulity so far as to dismiss the factuality of those events as well.
But Lefty's skepticism only goes so far. He was among the most credulous when it came to the jackboot drama of the Indian diner raid story.

The amnesia seems a bit weird, though not impossible. Those who noted that she suffered no apparent head wound were off base though, as drf points out the different causes of memory loss. I am inclined to think that the memory loss claim has more to do with her not wanting to have to relive the entire experience whenever some stranger she meets asks her about it (which almost everyone she meets probably will, for the forseeable future).

[RS]

ya shoulda seen me take on 20 dudes at the saloon last night..and I got witnesses, yessirree I got lots a witnesses....

[Brian]

I don't know what to believe, but isn't it a bit odd that in this factoid and detail obsessed culture we have never gotten an "official" detailed report on Lynch's injuries? Heck, we get intimate and precise details about every other celebrity's injuries, hospital visits, treatments, etc. Certainly Lynch was the "human interest story of the hour" there for a while. One would think that the Bush administration would have publicized the gunshot wounds, bruises from being slapped around, etc. to aid in their effort to demonize the Iraqi regime and to give Americans even more reasons to support the war.

[trainwreck]

All the world's a stage.....

[geophile]

That's just it Brian. Maybe people like Bush actually aren't crassly using this to pump up public opinion, and instead choose to respect Lynch's privacy. Perhaps the fact that they aren't making a big friggin' deal about this and don't want to whorishly give into public infatuation by releasing every gory detail speaks more to the truth of the situation than to its falsehood. In a war that is especially unpopular in Europe, it should come as no surprize that European media just won't let the appearance of one little thing actually going right stand without objection.

[Brian]

geophile - I hope you're right, but given human nature - especially as it pertains to politics - I doubt it. You honestly don't think that the same President who spent thousands (hundreds of thousands?)of taxpayer dollars and who put his own life at risk unnecessarily just to pull off that mega photo op on the aircraft carrier wouldn't take advantage of every opportunity to build support for himself and his war? Particularly when the potential downside for him and his administration was so negligible?

I guess I'm just too much of a cynic...

[Jesse Walker]

Here's an earlier story on the subject from the Toronto Star:

http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Iraq/050403_real_saving_of_private_lynch.htm

[Anonymous]

Whatever. I don't see what all the fawning was about in the first place. Even if it were found she'd been repeatedly gang raped in the ass for days on end, SHE'S A SOLDIER. That's THEIR JOB: TO BE PUT IN HARM'S WAY. I mean, they're basically asking for it; they signed up for it and they're hardly innocent, and besides THAT'S WHAT MY TAX-DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR. Jesusfuck, get it together. It's not like we have military conscription anymore.

[Xrlq]

"at least they call Private Lynch just that and not the patronizing 'jessica'..."

That's one popular objection I've never understood. Has PFC Lynch herself objected to being called by her first name, or is this one of those "false consciousness" things? And does it apply to anyone in the military, or just to women?

[Jon B.]

Finally, a story about the BU**SH** administration that is so despicable that I have trouble believing it. If this turns out to be true my last shred of optimism may be gone. Hate to repete but:

No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up.
Lilly Tomlin

[JDM]

I'm having trouble understanding why if any of the facts reported in this story are true or not true it would matter to anyone one way or the other. Are you all just assuming this represents something bad because the authors think it does? Does anyone think for themselves anymore?

Taken factually this is just another story about the fog of war...

[Fred]

The new HIPPA Privacy provisions took effect before Pfc Lynch returned to the US, so I don't think it is unsurprising that we never got official word on what exactly her injuries were

[david f]

hey Xrlq!

cool blog -- liked the cookie monster as judge cartoon you have posted!

the comment about referring to Private L. as "J" stems from watching some of the coverage and remembering how o'grady's coverage differed. and one of the CNBC reporters (brian?) was interviewing sailors on a carrier and they introduced themselves with rank, first and last names, and where they were from. he called the "soldier" types by rank and last name. he called the two galley hands by first names. it seemed a bit patronizing.

so as far as not understanding the popular criticism, my objections are based on above, before i saw it on vpostrel.com... and i have no idea what "false consciousness" is. and don't like when unnecessary explanations are applied to any individual, military or otherwise ("male nurse"; "female doctor"; "land shark" are three i've heard recently, for example).

but yeah -- it makes you wonder how it would have been if there still were a "vous/tu" distinction in english...

cheers!
drf

[Joe]

So how does this "prove" anything? I don't think I remember anyone saying, "This war is justified by the way they treated little Jessica Lynch?" I've never thought her a "hero," but the story simply shows the confusion of war. Plus, those Iraqi's would NEVER fib, and 170,000 objet d'art ARE missing from the museum, right?
However, the person who wrote, "SHE'S A SOLDIER. That's THEIR JOB: TO BE PUT IN HARM'S WAY. I mean, they're basically asking for it; they signed up for it and they're hardly innocent, and besides THAT'S WHAT MY TAX-DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR."....
Is an idiot. No, it would NOT be OK if PFC. Lynch had been gang-raped for weeks on end, that is both illegal and immoral. That statement is no more tenable than, "Hey you know what the job entailed when we hired you, now bend over the barrel again, Bob." Neither Bob nor Roberta can be raped at work and simply told, "Hey you volunteered for this, when you signed on with IBM/UPS/ or Sam's Cable Company" The statement reveals a great depth of ignorance or dislike of the troops.

[Lefty]

Geophile - yeah, I can understand some other type of trauma causing amnesia. It's the doctors predicting she'll probably never remember it that makes me curious.

[Bill]

It is interesting to consider how the american public may have reacted if Pvte Lynch had been abused and/or killed. The lack of american casualties in this "war" was a key factor.

Remember the picture of that dead naked soldier in Somalia? Boy, did people go off that little "war" in a hurry.

In fact, I cannot recall seeing one image of a dead or badly wounded american soldier on TV. Can anyone else?

[Todd Fletcher]

I'm agnostic on this issue, but this report is just lame jouralism. The veracity of the Iraqi sources is never questioned at all. I'm not suggesting that they aren't telling the truth, sinply that the reporter takes their word as gospel, then bases his whole point on it. I suppose skepticism is only needed when it bolsters your point.

But then, what do you expect from the Beeb?

[business plan]

Good point Todd. I agree.

[Kevin Carson]

xlrg:

The problem is not so much disrespect to Lynch, but the vulgar infotainment culture that puts me on a first-name basis with people I don't especially care to know. Public figures get turned into one-word brand names like Biz, Lux and Fab.

Another great sin of the industry is its abuse of the word "tragedy": "Larry King's tragic anal fistula." By the classical definition of the word, nothing that happens to most of the folks appearing on the cover of the Enquirer could possibly be "tragic."

[Neo]

Maybe her lawyer, or some CIA P.R. dude told her to fake "amnesia" -- who knows.

Sheesh! I don't know WHAT to believe anymore. We're living in the 21st century, where reality is fiction and fiction is reality.

Maybe the philosophy behind "The Matrix" is the correct one after all.

What does any of this matter anyway. And to think I came to this site ("Reason") to find a bit of sanity ...

I want no blue pill, no red pill, no nothing. Just stop the world! I want off.

[Lefty]

Dude, you don't have to go looking for problems to find them in Iraq.

[geophile]

Hey relax. When I think of incompetent doctors, I think of the British guy from Bewitched. He wasn't exactly Indian. Nor is this Uday character, it should be pointed out. I merely observed the similar sounds in the names. Racist? That's not really fair. I have questions about this incident just like everyone else, I'm just not jumping all over the word of a single Iraqi as proof positive of the Wag the Dog scenario. There are 23 Million+ people in Iraq, I'm sure there's more than one fibber in the lot.

[Phil]

My posts not be confused with the "other" Phil above.

[Phil]

Hey! Where'd my original post go? Damn! Nevermind.

[Sir Real]

Geophile-

First, go look up the word "single".

Dr. Harith al-Houssona
Dr. Mudhafer Raazk
Nurse Khalida Shinah
Dr. Anmar Uday
Pam Nicolais (Spokesperson for the Lynch family)

Second-

"I merely observed the similar sounds in the names."

"When I think of incompetent doctors.."

Why should you reference an incompetent Dr, except to imply all Iraqi Dr.'s are "incompetent" (your own words) in the absence of proof either way.

Of course, you don't stop at their competence, calling them liars on the basis of- what, exactly? US issued reports proven wrong as quickly as they're released? A heavily edited video released from the Pentagon? THESE are unbiased sources?(The WaPo quoted a US Official as the source of the "bullets/stab" bit, later proven false by Dr.'s in germany).

Are Pvt. Lynch and Pam Nicolais liars too?

Frankly, these Dr.'s have dealt with atrocity, poverty, and oppression, and continued helping and healing people. IF the US cut the power to a HOSPITAL and destroyed equipment so it could have killer photo-op, AND THEN LIED TO US ABOUT IT- well, that's not how you win hearts and minds in other countries.

But why should you care? They're just incompetent Iraqis..

btw, re: your blanks "point"- Maybe someone noticed that despite all the shooting, there weren't any bullet holes. You think a Dr. could figure that out? Obviously not, given the low esteem you appear to hold all Iraqis in...

[geophile]

You've obviously got a lot of frustration to release here, and unfortunately you've decided to release it by taking everything far too seriously. You want to think ill of me? Enjoy. I'll provide you no more fodder.

[et]

I'm still waiting for the BBC to give me an update on the Jenin "massacre".

[Sir Real]

From the Salon article-

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/05/16/pvt_lynch/index.html

"In fact, the Iraqi accounts of good treatment for Pvt. Lynch were corroborated by Pam Nicolais, a cousin serving as a spokesman for the family, in an interview with the Herald Dispatch in Huntington, W.Va. "That goes along with what Jessi told us," she told the paper"

The article is here:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/May/05/LNtop1.htm

It also notes Lynch was in 2 hospitals, and that her Intelligence officer guard beat her while the Dr.'s tried to protect/comfort her. There's also a curious discrepency in mentioning a bullet wound to the leg, but Dr.Harith al-Houssona characterizes her wounds as being a vehicle crash, with no bullets or shrapnel. Shades of grey, per usual.

Still, we have a named american source in an american paper, basically corroborating the Dr.'s, and casting serious doubts about amnesia. You folks have some more unfounded slander or racism to add (Dr. Bombay/Uday)?

[mike e]

So Baghdad Bob is back in action, who cares?

Those who so want to find problems with this war will stop at nothing. The BBC and two Iraqi doctors...there's untainted sources!

[Misogeo]

Look up the meaning of the term "Geophile"

GEO = the world
PHILE = Lover of

Nuff said.

[Anonymous]

In spite of dumbing down the news for the general flag-waving simpletones, to the point of creating fairy tales on the news, don't underestimate the American public: they'll still believe the story becuase it supports their kindergarden level idea that they are special simply because of being born in this country, that America is pure good and has the right to fuck the rest of the world whenever they feel like it, and Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, and many others are pure evil. Oh yeah, I forgot. Under Bush, it is now acceptable to hate other countries simply becuase they do not agree with us. If they don't agree with us, they are anti-American! Hey you subjects of King Bush, if you are a real true red-white-and-blue American, you can say Au Revoir to that Paris trip!

First, let's see if the story is even given any coverage. HELLO CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN!!! WHERE ARE YOU? DO WE HAVE TO GET THE NEWS FROM THE BRITS? So much for that "Liberal Media" crap that the media conservatives Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, and Michael Savage like to push.

I USED TO THINK I LIVED IN A DEMOCRACY.

I thought that we built this country on the notion that we had the freedom to change aspects of our government when necessary. These days, just critisizing that shithead Bush is called "bashing" or "unpatriotic". The republicans see no hippocracy in that, even though they were "bashing" Clinton a couple of years ago. I guess that was OK because he wasn't the real macho man that Bush is, ignoring the pleas of innocent death row inmates as Texas governor, bombing innocent women and children in Afganistan and Iraq, and refusing to speak anywhere except those places where no one can speak out against him.

If you woke up to find that all of your freedoms had been taken away one day, would you be proud to say you were on the side that was against taking away your freedom? Or would you be proud to be a part of the force that enslaved us?

[hajji]

WOW! You folks sure do aim for the 'nads! I was just wondering how come (another way to say "why" in this part of the world) even Ari Flesher (soon to be "ambassador to the Bahamas") hasn't even been ASKED to respond to this question.

Nothing against the US military, BTW,(my girlfriend's son is guarding the ancient city of UR, last I heard) just that the folks I've actually asked about this issue, who have Vietnam, Grenada, Somalia and GBush the 1's Iraq war have said that "It sure seem like something the Army I know would try to do!"

-Hajji

[Yo MAMA]

You all brits are a bunch of losers. Why waste your loser time writing on this website. Shut up and bow down to America your new King.

[Pancho]

Say, Anonymous, do you hate your father, too? When you brush your teeth at night, do you look in the mirror and like what you see?

I think I know why you're "anonynmous." Because your real name is Don Quixote, flailing away at windmills every day, right?

How about just living your life and making the best of it, eh?

The world's just gonna do what it doo-doo. You won't be able to change it. But you can work on you, and do a great job.

[Yo DADDA]

"You brits are a bunch of losers. Why waste your time writing on this website."

For the same reason YOU do, moron. (You want your opinion about America to be heard ... er, read.)

[Anonymous]

Jinkey. This news no get much coverage in Chad. I just read about now.

[Sarantitis Joshua]

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[Watkins Dan]

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