Any way you slice it, it's still baloney

[khaosworks]

Family of POW: She Wasn't Shot, Stabbed
Thu Apr 3, 7:52 PM ET
By ALLISON BARKER, Associated Press Writer

PALESTINE, W.Va. - The father of rescued POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch said Thursday she was in great spirits following her first surgery and said doctors told him she had not been shot or stabbed during her ordeal.

"We have heard and seen reports that she had multiple gunshot wounds and a knife stabbing. The doctor has not seen any of this," Gregory Lynch Sr. said. "There's no entry (wounds) whatsoever."

Lynch said his 19-year-old daughter, who is at a military hospital in Germany, had surgery on her back.

"She didn't have any feeling in her feet," he said outside his home in this West Virginia hamlet. More surgery was scheduled for Friday on her fractured legs and right arm, he said.

The family spent several hours with Pentagon officials discussing her time in Iraq (news - web sites). They hoped to learn more about what happened on March 23, when her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was attacked after making a wrong turn in southern Iraq.

Also waiting for news are family members with loved ones in the 507th, based at Fort Bliss, Texas: Seven soldiers remained missing Thursday, five were listed as prisoners of war and two others were confirmed killed.

The military has said 11 bodies were found during Lynch's dramatic rescue from an Iraqi hospital Tuesday, and some were believed to be Americans.

Of course, this is in direct conflict with the Lynch's Last Stand version reported in the Washington Post yesterday - where Lynch was said to have "continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23" and also (and you can hear the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing in the background as they said this) "'She was fighting to the death,' the official said. 'She did not want to be taken alive.'"

Of course it's a war, and we all need heroes, but do lies have to be this transparent? Lynch is being turned into a propaganda tool, which completely vitiates the idea that she was rescued because the US Army leaves no blonde behind. That itself is a pretty good message without trying to slather it with an added layer of faux heroism.

Look, Lynch was a supply clerk that took a wrong turn and she was captured. She's in okay shape now, and her family's glad to see her and her rescue was a Good Thing. That should be enough. I mean, for Christ's sake, look at this photo... notice the strategically placed stars and stripes, reminding us all that she's American. She almost even looks like she's wearing lipstick.

Can't question the fact that she's a babe, though.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh....argh!!!!!

I was so mad to think of her shot and stabbed and broken. She's hurt badly enough without them lying about the extent of her injuries, making us think she'd been tortured.

Oh, arghlefuck.

A.
who hates being lied to

[batyatoon]

"arghlefuck." Yeah, that about sums it up. Thanks.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Jesus wept.

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

This is why I try to stay away from the media depictions of the war. It's too easy to twist your opinion towards the common thread if you're listening to too much mainsteam radio or watching television.

I know I'm not as informed as most people are, I choose that, but it also means I don't have to live with the minute-to-minute manufactured heartbreaks that the media chooses to play on.

There are going to be enough real heartbreaks in this war.

*hugs*
LMG

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

My reaction to Barker's story is, I fear, one of irritation at the writer's obviious bias! Is it Lynch's fault that Shrub's and Rummy's mouthpieces choose to propagandize her capture and subsequent rescue? Does the later identification of the bodies of _5_ of Lynch's servicemates still mean it's all 'baloney'? I don't think we (the U.S. military) have any business being in Iraq to begin with, but that doesn't mean I blame the soldiers for the stupidity of their commanders.

It's very easy to sit safely on the sidelines and carp righteously; I suppose that's why so many people indulge in the practice -- if you can't (daren't or choose not to) Join 'em, Beat 'em! -- but that simply adds to the negativity overwhelming the world.

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how you get bias from Barker's article - perhaps if you quoted the relevant passages where she blames or criticizes Lynch for the propagandizing (it's late, and I may have been missing something).

Or maybe you're talking about my commentary - which criticism was not directed at Lynch but at the way she's being turned into a propaganda tool. As far as I'm concerned, a lie this transparent simply undermines any credibility that one might proscribe to any information coming out of the military machine, and cheapens the ordeal that Lynch went through and the deaths of her fellow soldiers.

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

Well, to start with, the entire tone of Barker's article was sneeringly patronizing. She points out how good Lynch looks as she is carried out, how one would suspect she even had 'lipstick' on; makes the point that the military 'leaves no blonde behind'; tacks on a gratuitous comment (and photo) that Lynch is, after all, a 'babe'! What the f--k does that have to do with anything, much less with journalism or fair reporting?

Our spokespersons lie for their own reasons: because they are told to; because they choose to; because the Other Side are name-calling and lying for their own propaganda purposes, and we must not be seen to stand mute, to lose face by not slanging back.

If your comment that "Any way you slice it, it's all baloney" was intended to convey some point, I failed to comprehend it. Cynicism is its own reward, I suppose -- you are obviously highly intelligent and well-read about a number of topics, probably far more than I -- but I feel that the results of such flip-off pronouncements tend to be more negative than positive. That said, I'll butt out -- I'm only someone's parent, when all's said and done, and probably quite irrelevant.... just like Old Europe and the U.N.!

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Well, to start with, all the examples you cite aren't Barker's. They're my comment on the article. And yes, I was being patronizing and snide and cynical. That was my intention. And yes, I was being more negative than positive. That was my intention too, when talking about somethin as negative as the concept of war and a good person being used for propaganda persons. I want to make one thing absolutely clear, though. At no point did I ever, ever imply that Lynch was to blame.

And you're quite correct in another thing. I don't want to stand mute while this lie is being thrown in our faces, and I pointed it out. I am not a journalist. I am not obliged to be objective in my commentary. I was giving my opinion (and trying to be mildly entertaining while at it - I'm sorry you didn't find it amusing).

"Anyway you slice it, it's still baloney," is an old saying - I'm sure you've heard it before. Point being, no matter how hard you try to justify a lie, it's still a lie.

And for what it's worth, I welcome comments - really! Especially from people who read my journal regularly, so please keep talking. And I don't think Old Europe (which is a horrible, horrible neologism coined by a diplomatically bankrupt administration) and the UN are irrelevant. At least not yet. And neither are your comments. So I hope you keep reading and you keep complaining if you think I'm over the top. That's how hopefully we learn.

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

"Oh..... Well... (as Miss Emily used to say on SatNightLive, after she'd been stopped in mid-rant by the news anchor)... Never mind....."

That's the trouble with opening my mouth before putting my brain fully into gear -- I am apt to end up swallowing my own foot! I thank you for your patient and restrained reply. I let my indignation overwhelm my intellect, forgetting that LJs are for commentary -- I do apologise.

As I am a compulsive reader -- cereal boxes, series-es, kids' books, fantasy, biography and auto-biography, ancient (1918) newspapers once used for wall insulation, instruction booklets packed with appliances -- I'm sure I will keep on reading. And I _hope_ I will keep on learning....