Another myth?

The story of Jessica Lynch captured by the Iraqis and her rescue by the U.S. special forces became one of the great patriotic moments. But is this just a myth?

According to the article in www.guardian.co.uk, the inside story of the rescue that may not have been as heroic as portrayed. The American media tactics, culminating in the Lynch episode, infuriated the British, who were supposed to be working alongside them in Doha, Qatar. A BBC’s Correspondent program reveals another version of the story. Croup Captain Al Lockwood, a British army spokesman at central command said that there are two different managements of news media and he feels “fortunate to have been part of the UK one.” In the early hours of April 2, 2003 correspondents in Doha were summoned from their beds to Centcom, the military and media nerve centre for the war. The White House’s top figure there, Jim Wilkinson, had stayed up all night and said they are in a situation where there will be a lot of hot news.

It is uncontested that the 19-year-old private, Jessica Lynch was captured by Iraqi soldiers to a local hospital in Nassiriya. The Pentagon claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and she had been interrogated. According to the Pentagon, a brave Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief risked his life to alert the Americans that Lynch was being held. The message beamed back to viewers within hours of the rescue was Army Rangers and Navy Seals stormed the Nassiriya hospital and made it to Lynch rescued away by helicopter.

Lynch became a cult hero, at least 10 Lynch items have listed in internet auction sites ranging from $5-$200. Trouble is, the doctors say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will. Her memory loss means that “researchers” are called to fill in the gaps. The doctors in Nassiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for Lynch, and she was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital. The doctor who looked after her during her capture, Dr Harith al-Houssona, said that there was no bullets inside her body and no stab wounds, “only RTA, road traffic accident”. The doctors also said that the day before the special forces stormed into the hospital, the Iraqi military had already fled. The doctors were surprised that the special forces would employ such manpower and helicopters to a hospital that has no resistance at all.

Not only they surprised the hospital staffs, the American forces opened fire on the ambulance which Dr. al-Houssona used to deliver Lynch back to the American Army and almost killed Lynch. They fled back to the hospital just in time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/JessicaLynch01.jpeg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,956255,00.html