Spin behind Jessica Lynch story?

[thedrifter]

Spin behind Jessica Lynch story?

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Spin behind Jessica Lynch story?
Discrepancies in reports of POW's capture, rescue raise questions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: May 6, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Diana Lynne
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Hollywood writers could not have imagined a more gripping and rousing story as that of the Iraqi capture of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the dramatic Special Ops rescue caught on videotape and instigated by an Iraqi lawyer who reportedly put his life on the line for hers. But some question whether elements of the saga are more hype than fact, created to spin the POW's experience to serve political purposes.

An avalanche of movie and book offers reportedly flooded the Lynch family days after her April 1 rescue amid a Washington Post report of her defiant stand against the Iraqi soldiers that ambushed her convoy in Nasiriyah on March 23. According to the Post, Lynch "sustained multiple gunshot wounds" and also was stabbed while she "fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers ... firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition." The paper cited an unnamed U.S. military official as saying "she was fighting to the death."

The front-page story was picked up by news outlets all over the world.

But hours after it hit the newsstands, Col. David Rubenstein, commander of the Army hospital in Germany where Lynch was taken, told reporters medical evidence did "not suggest that any of her wounds were caused by either gunshots or stabbing." Lynch's father echoed that report the following day, telling reporters that Army doctors told him Jessica hadn't been shot, but suffered arm and leg fractures.

Three days later, an Associated Press report from Germany quoted a medical staff statement as saying: "There is a possibility [her wounds] were caused by a low-velocity, small-caliber weapon."

Nearly two weeks after its initial report, the Post quoted a physician at the Iraqi hospital in Nasiriyah as saying Lynch had sustained a head injury and arm and leg fractures, but "there were no bullets or shrapnel or anything like that."

The Toronto Star quotes a physician who treated Lynch at the Nasiriya hospital as describing her injuries as "blunt in nature," possibly stemming from a fall from her vehicle.

"She was in pretty bad shape. There was blunt trauma, resulting in compound fractures of the left femur [upper leg] and the right humerus [upper arm.] And also a deep laceration on her head," said Dr. Harith Houssona.

More recent reports indicate Lynch suffered a head wound, spinal injury and fractures to her right arm, both legs and her right foot and ankle. She is undergoing occupational and physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
The Post writers couched their report with a cautionary paragraph, which stated that Pentagon officials said they had heard "rumors" of Lynch's heroics but had no confirmation. It said the account was based on "battlefield intelligence" and information from Iraqi sources "whose reliability has yet to be assessed."

In response to critical feedback on the article, Post ombudsman Michael Getler concluded "what really happened is still not clear." He questioned the "thin sourcing" used in the article and suggested portions of it were overblown.

"I smell an agenda," he quoted one reader as writing. The reader suggested the Post account of the ambush amounted to wartime "propaganda."

The dramatic footage of the Army Rangers and Navy Seals swarming the Nasiriyah hospital and carrying Lynch out on a stretcher provided a proud moment for the military and America. The subsequent surge of patriotism muted the catcalls of the anti-war naysayers.

Military advocate Elaine Donnelly sees another political agenda behind the Post's apparent misinformation.

"I think someone in the Army – probably a woman – leaked the story to the Washington Post to spin it," she told WorldNetDaily. "If you plant the story first, it's almost impossible to turn."

Donnelly, who heads the Center for Military Readiness, is a longtime opponent of allowing women to serve in combat positions. Donnelly suspects "Pentagon feminists," whom she says have actively pursued the advancement of women in the military beyond the dictates of common sense and at the cost of military effectiveness, are behind the unsubstantiated report of Lynch's valor and erroneous report of her injuries. She suspects the information given to the Post was part of an attempt to tip the long-simmering debate about women in combat in proponents' favor and possibly dampen the potential public outrage over any future reports of torture.

Recent editorials indicate Lynch's ordeal is critical to the debate. A commentator writing in USA Today argued it proves "the time is right to blast through the armored ceiling that keeps women second-class citizens in the military." Another columnist wrote in the Orlando Sentinel that Lynch's story offers conclusive evidence that "women can be as fierce as men."

"I would like to know what happened to those men who were shot right away," Donnelly continued, in reference to the nine members of Lynch's unit recovered from a makeshift morgue at the Iraqi hospital. Gruesome footage of the bodies broadcast by the Arab television station Al Jazeera sparked reports the soldiers were shot in the head, execution style.

Donnelly suspects the men may have been trying to protect the women in the company. She bases her hunch on interviews of military servicemen and other research she conducted for a presidential commission studying the impact of women in the armed forces in 1992.

"Why is nobody asking any questions?" she said. "Something fishy is going on here."
For its part, the Pentagon says it will not release the full account of what happened to the 507th Maintenance Company until debriefings are completed with Lynch and five other company members held captive for three weeks before U.S. Marines rescued them south of Tikrit. Officials are also interviewing soldiers who escaped the ambush.

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ducked a question about Lynch's condition.

"I believe that's a matter for her doctors and her family and not for us to talk about," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Whatever happened when Lynch's convoy took a wrong turn in the Iraqi desert, most would agree that Lynch is an American hero for answering the call to duty and putting her life on the line in service to her country.

But legend precedes reality even for Lynch. The Associated Press reported she told debriefers in Washington she doesn't remember anything between the time she said her vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and when she regained consciousness at an Iraqi hospital.

Fox News reports her amnesia extends through the duration of her ten days in captivity, and that she has no memory of the brutality U.S. military officials believe she endured.

"She basically has amnesia, and has mentally blocked out the horrible things we strongly believe she went through," one official told Fox.

"These things usually take months – sometimes years – but usually months to eventually clear up," and the patient recovers, Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld said.

Fox reports the military may have the surviving soldiers from her unit visit her to help refresh her memory. Officials say she "has to be brought back to reality," since she may be the last living witness to war crimes in Iraq – crimes possibly committed against her unit members and herself.

Torture or VIP treatment?

In addition to the issue of how the 20-year-old Army supply clerk was taken prisoner by Iraqi soldiers, reporting discrepancies raise questions about Lynch's treatment in captivity and her rescue.

The Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh Rehaief, who also became an American hero for alerting U.S. military forces to Lynch's presence at the hospital, conducting surveillance of the facility and relaying the information back to coalition troops, reportedly put her safety before his after seeing her being slapped on the face by an Iraqi security officer. The 32-year-old, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter were granted political asylum in the U.S. as reward for his courage.

NBC News reported coalition forces were told an American soldier was being tortured at the hospital.


continued.............

[thedrifter]

But the treating physicians at the Iraqi public hospital dispute the claims.

The medical team interviewed by the Toronto Star said the Iraqi intelligence officers took no interest in her.

As they describe, Lynch was given VIP care, which included extra juice and cookies and the attention of the hospital's "most nurturing" nurse.

"We all became friends with her, we liked her so much," Houssona said. "Especially because we all speak a little English, we were able to assure her the whole time that there was no danger, that she would go home soon."

The Nasiriya doctors offer up inconsistent details on Lynch's condition, however, which leaves room for doubt about the accuracy of their accounts.

While Houssona told The Star that Lynch required a transfusion of two pints of blood, her colleague Haitham Gizzy told the Charleston Daily Mail – the local paper in Lynch's hometown of Palestine, W. Va. – that Lynch lost "not a drop of blood."

Gizzy also said Lynch was first treated at an Iraqi military hospital before being transferred to the public hospital in Nasiriya.

There are no reports regarding what happened to Lynch at that military facility, nor is there confirmation the "hospital" was in fact a hospital. It has been widely reported that many of Iraq's torture chambers were disguised as innocent buildings such as hotels and sports centers.

The rescued POWs told The Post and the Miami Herald they were kicked and beaten when captured, and were taunted and interrogated by their captors and some feared they were going to die.

The 'big show'

The Star reports the three Nasiriya doctors, two nurses, one hospital administrator and local residents also ridiculed the U.S. military for its clandestine, midnight raid of the hospital to rescue Lynch. They claim Iraqi soldiers and commanders left the hospital two days earlier.

"The night they left, a few of the senior medical staff tried to give Jessica back," said Houssona. "We carefully moved her out of intensive care and into an ambulance and began to drive to the Americans, who were just one kilometer away. But when the ambulance got within 300 meters, they began to shoot. There wasn't even a chance to tell them 'We have Jessica. Take her.'"

The next night, the sound of helicopters circling the hospital's upper floors drove staff into the windowless X-ray department, according to the physicians' account. As the rescue unfolded, the power was cut and the U.S. soldiers blasted through locked doors.

"We were pretty frightened," Dr. Anmar Uday told the paper. "Everyone expected the Americans to come that day because the city had fallen. But we didn't expect them to blast through the doors like a Hollywood movie."

"They made a big show," Gizzy told the Daily Mail. "It was just a drama. A big, dramatic show."

Gizzy and other doctors told the paper most of the Saddam's Fedayeen fighters and the entire Baath Party leadership had come to the hospital earlier in the day, changed into civilian clothes and fled barefoot.

"They brought their civilian wear with them," said Mokhdad Abd Hassan, pointing to green army uniforms piled on the lawn. "They all ran away, the same day."

Were the Fedayeen soldiers long gone from the hospital, or did they flee just hours before the raid?

The conflicting doctors' reports leave one WorldNetDaily reader suspecting the Iraqi doctors themselves have an agenda.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diana Lynne is a news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.



Sempers,

Roger


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/images2/jessicalynch.jpg

[firstsgtmike]

I condensed this, a post of mine from a month ago when the subect was a MOH for PFC Lynch.
------------------------------------------------
"PFC. Lynch has been adopted as a symbol, and as such has become a "water walker" and god help anyone who casts doubts on a "water walker's" qualifications to be one.

Unless I have it wrong, PFC Lynch's vehicle came under attack and they dismounted. PFC Lynch kept on returning fire until PFC Lynch (I'm trying to be sexually neutral) ran out of ammunition. There is a question, which really is unimportant to the issue, if PFC Lynch was wounded in the firefight. Either way, PFC Lynch, and everyone else alive from the ambushed vehicle, were fighting to save their own lives.

No. PFC Lynch will become a poster child, and I will bet ANYONE that PFC Lynch becomes the subect of a movie or a TV special concerning the life and exploits of PFC Lynch.

But when the bare facts are revealed, whatever medal PFC Lynch receives, I'm also willing to bet that EVERY combat veteran will be able to cite unrewarded names and instances that were more deserving.

Unfortunately, the public NEEDS heroes. Astute propagandists watch for signs, check the pulse, and magnify the picture to epic proportions. The Roman games, give the public the heroes they need. "
----------------------------------
The lead article in THIS thread raises some interesting questions about how far we went to "create" a heroine.

Particularly due to the fact that her rescue was video taped.

In keeping with that thought, I wonder how real is her amnesia?

Reviewing many of the original and subsequent stories about her "ordeal", and added to the fact that her parents DID contract for book and movie deals, I can accept the possibility that the media hype was more drama than fact.

IF that is the case, it is more advantageous to say "I don't remember", than to refute it.

I feel sorry for PFC Lynch. None of this hysteria, hype, or attention is of her choosing. I feel she is still a victim, and is and will continue to be manipulated for the benefit of others.

I do believe that she is a reluctant standard bearer. I only hope that she, as an individual, survives.

[yellowwing]

The Public does need heroes. The American people/economy is our ultimate not-so-secret weapon. Who else can afford to spend $60 million for an F-18, or billions for a strategic bomber squadron?

Keeping the taxpayers happy is a priority. Our Commander in Chief is greatly indebted to the Corp for such a swift victory. The Third Army did an end-run whilst we plowed up the bloody gut. And we still got to Baghdad within a few hours of them! Ooooh-freakin-rah!

Not to mention the many other Army troops we rescued.

[Armory]

Good post firstsgtmike. Nice tiptoeing around a touchy subject.

[arzach]

Originally posted by yellowwing
The Public does need heroes. The American people/economy is our ultimate not-so-secret weapon. Who else can afford to spend $60 million for an F-18, or billions for a strategic bomber squadron?

Keeping the taxpayers happy is a priority. Our Commander in Chief is greatly indebted to the Corp for such a swift victory. The Third Army did an end-run whilst we plowed up the bloody gut. And we still got to Baghdad within a few hours of them! Ooooh-freakin-rah!

Not to mention the many other Army troops we rescued.

Heroes are nice to have..REAL heroes that is...not the fabrication that is being put together for PFC Lynch. Amnesia just surfaced a couple days ago, guess she 'forgot' she had it.

19 yr old girl, fresh outta hi-school, doin' a supply job....My opine, she was scared outta her gourd (can't blame her), thinking only of surviving...not returning fire. With all the press so far on this, they gotta take it all the way. Truth I believe, will not be known.

Guess I forgot to 'tip-toe'...musta been my amnesia..:evilgrin:

[MillRatUSMC]

One big thing keeps popping in my head...
Killed in action were: Spc. Jamaal Addison, 1st Sgt. Robert Dowdy, Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto Jr., Pfc. Howard Johnson II, Spc. James Kiehl, Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa, Pvt. Brandon Sloan, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Johnny Villareal-Mata and Sgt. Donald Walters.
Spc Lori Ann Piestewa was Killed in Action and Spc Shoshana Johnson was wounded the same day as Pfc Jessica Lynch sustained her injuries.
Did she fall from the vehicle she was riding in.
Or was she shot with the same caliber weapon as Spc Shoshana Johnson?
Spc Shoshana Johnson was shot in both ankles.
From photos on the web, those wounds appear to be of small caliber rifle.
A large caliber would have caused more damage.
I would like to see a copy of the debriefing of the POW's captured and the debriefing of the soldiers that escaped that ambushed of that column.
Pfc Jessica Lynch might be in Iraqi Freedom,
What those three idiots in Kosovo.
Hero's where there wasn't any.
Pfc Jessica Lynch will be bled dry by the media and placed in more pressure than a lowly Pfc should have to endured.
Are those Iraqi doctors telling the truth?

For ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free.

But what might the "TRUTH" Be?

Freedom
"Those who take freedom for granted,
Would be dependent,
On those brave souls,
Who are willing to pay the price for it.
And the price of freedom,
Will be paid at times unexpected,
By heroes,
Who didn't know they were."

“The only requirement for evil to flourish,
is for good men to do nothing”
~ Edmund Burke ~

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo

[Devildogg4ever]

I'm sure the media and who ever is behind the whole thing blew it out of whack for the headlines, and for the women in the military as far as recruiting and letting the women in war and the people at home feel that they could hold their own! There has been alot of lies going on about the whole war, and I know alot of the lies, we will never know the truth. She was/is the patsy to it all and she herself is probably wondering why?, and why her?

[arzach]

If memory serves me right, Pfc Lynch was with the same group ambushed and some were later 'executed' by the iraqis...Remember the ai-jezerra footage? Now I'm wondering; why, if Pfc Lynch was doing all that 'return fire', she was not one of the executed? Or even killed on the spot. I'm sure if it were me, and I was being fired on, I'd do my damndest to take that particular person out. Fire-fites are total chaos, i realize this, but for a group that large to be captured at the same time strikes me weird. Sorry, but I'm not buying a whole lot of 'return fire'

Pfc Lynch is gonna be a media darling, and a poster girl for further recruiting of women AND putting them in combat zones.....Where I personally DON'T think they belong....DoZo...

[USMC0311]

Originally posted by arzach
If memory serves me right, Pfc Lynch was with the same group ambushed and some were later 'executed' by the iraqis...Remember the ai-jezerra footage? Now I'm wondering; why, if Pfc Lynch was doing all that 'return fire', she was not one of the executed? Or even killed on the spot. I'm sure if it were me, and I was being fired on, I'd do my damndest to take that particular person out. Fire-fites are total chaos, i realize this, but for a group that large to be captured at the same time strikes me weird. Sorry, but I'm not buying a whole lot of 'return fire'

Pfc Lynch is gonna be a media darling, and a poster girl for further recruiting of women AND putting them in combat zones.....Where I personally DON'T think they belong....DoZo...

Thank You Marine.
It's good to know sum You Marines still make logical observations

logic is a dangerous charcteristic for the Ambulance chasers and the muthers spreadin scuttlebutt....the dramatic world of the fools.

Missouri is lookin for people of my opinion;) Show Me.:thumbup:

[arzach]

Originally posted by USMC0311


Thank You Marine.
It's good to know sum You Marines still make logical observations

logic is a dangerous charcteristic for the Ambulance chasers and the muthers spreadin scuttlebutt....the dramatic world of the fools.

Missouri is lookin for people of my opinion;) Show Me.:thumbup:

Tell ya one thing Bro, LOGIC and COMMON SENSE, will get ya thru most any situation...See ya in a couple weeks My Brother

[USMC0311]

Originally posted by arzach


Tell ya one thing Bro, LOGIC and COMMON SENSE, will get ya thru most any situation...See ya in a couple weeks My Brother

roger all that TracRat....even intoxicated...Improvise, adapt and Overcome....See ya at the LZ Brother!!

[firstsgtmike]

I'm quoting this from my own post. It is followed by the latest "news" update on the PFC Lynch situation, which came about after a BBC report on inaccuracies concerning the events.
---------------
"Unfortunately, the public NEEDS heroes. Astute propagandists watch for signs, check the pulse, and magnify the picture to epic proportions. The Roman games, give the public the heroes they need. "

The lead article in THIS thread raises some interesting questions about how far we went to "create" a heroine.

Particularly due to the fact that her rescue was video taped.

In keeping with that thought, I wonder how real is her amnesia?

Reviewing many of the original and subsequent stories about her "ordeal", and added to the fact that her parents DID contract for book and movie deals, I can accept the possibility that the media hype was more drama than fact.

IF that is the case, it is more advantageous to say "I don't remember", than to refute it.

I feel sorry for PFC Lynch. None of this hysteria, hype, or attention is of her choosing. I feel she is still a victim, and is and will continue to be manipulated for the benefit of others.

I do believe that she is a reluctant standard bearer. I only hope that she, as an individual, survives.

------------------------- Now the latest news update 5/23/03

Army to probe Lynch capture
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Army is investigating the Iraqi ambush of a maintenance company that resulted in nine dead soldiers and six prisoners of war, including the capture of Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, who commands the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bliss, Texas, ordered the probe by a team of officers, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said yesterday. Col. Joe Curtin said the "extremely complex" investigation should be completed soon.

One question the team is addressing is the plight of 19-year-old Pfc. Lynch, whose capture by Iraqis and subsequent rescue by an allied special-operations team propelled her to folk-hero status across America.

The Washington Post reported that she staged a fierce fight before capture, emptying a gun and killing Iraqi attackers before being stabbed and shot herself.

But two Pentagon officials in interviews cast doubt on that report. The officials said all evidence suggests that Pfc. Lynch's truck crashed in the chaos of the ambush in the central Iraqi town of Nasiriyah. She suffered several bone fractures and was in no position to put up a fight, the officials said.

But a final determination will await the commander's inquiry, or "15-6," which refers to the regulation authorizing such investigations.

"Part of it will look at what happened to each of the soldiers," Col. Curtin said. "It will determine whether [Pfc. Lynch] was in an accident. When the ambush hit, did the vehicle wreck or did she fight?"

The West Virginian is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. She has told investigators she has no memory of events from the time of the ambush on March 23 until her rescue.

Her unit, the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Co., was moving from Kuwait that day in support of Patriot antimissile batteries being positioned farther north inside Iraq. U.S. Central Command officials have said the company got lost and drove into Nasiriyah by mistake and was unprotected by combat units.

A band of paramilitary Iraqis attacked the truck convoy from all sides. One survivor said the unit immediately descended into chaos and that some of the soldiers' guns jammed.

The commander's inquiry will look into all issues concerning the incident, including leadership, training, any mechanical failures and tactics. "The goal is lessons learned. Corrective action," Col. Curtin said.

He said Gen. Bromberg may seek judicial and administrative punishment if misconduct is found by any 507th member.
In a parallel investigation, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the ambush to determine whether Iraqis committed war crimes. It is against international law to execute POWs. Nine 507th soldiers died in the ambush or afterward and were found in shallow graves.

Video images of some on Iraqi television appeared to show bullet wounds to the forehead.

Pfc. Lynch's Walter Reed medical team earlier this month released a statement on her progress, after surgery to repair a broken bone in her foot. The hospital said it was likely to be the last in a series of surgeries to repair broken bones.

"Her medical team says her injuries are healing at a satisfactory rate, and there have been no unexpected complications," the hospital said.

"This week, they increased her therapy sessions to twice daily. Occupational therapy helps her with activities of daily living, such as combing her hair, brushing her teeth and other personal hygiene matters," it said. "The physical therapy is designed to help her increase her strength and flexibility."
-------------------------------------------------
Me again.

It should be pointed out that none of the heroics attributed to PFC Lynch came about because of anything SHE reported.

I"ll end this by requoting a quote of MINE.

"I feel sorry for PFC Lynch. None of this hysteria, hype, or attention is of her choosing. I feel she is still a victim, and is and will continue to be manipulated for the benefit of others.

I do believe that she is a reluctant standard bearer. I only hope that she, as an individual, survives."
----------------------
I still feel the same.

[JChristin]

Of course one of the first women wounded in combat is going to become a feeding freeznsy in the press. The sharks from all sides are swimming in heat about this one. All those who board the ship on the right will voice that women have no business in combat and cite this and that study WHY. While those who board the same ship, but on the left, will do the same as those on the right - but - cite studies of their own defending a woman right to be in combat. Just like a lot of other hot bed issues confronted by our great republic, public opinion will swing from one side of the issue to the other.

PFC. Lynch was placed between a hard place and a rock. No matter what she does now - the right will use it to their own advantage, and hopefully keep women in the kitchen while pulling desk duty. The left will use her to promote their own far left liberal ideals of womanhood in the 21st century. In the final analysis, the truth most likely lays somewhere in the middle.

The two truths about who is fit for combat may read along the following lines, based upon the premise that all things being equal in regards to age, schooling, and training:

1. Some women are fully capable (emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually) of fighting in combat, while some women are not.

2. Some men are fully capable (emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually) of fighting in combat, while some men are not.

Lets assume that for every 100 women, that 20 are combat worthy.

Lets assume that for every 100 men, that 40 are combat worthy.

I believe that those 60 persons who are combat worthy should receive the proper schooling and training to advance their military careers without prejudice. Those who are qualified to be on the front should be placed there, those who are not - should be placed elsewhere.

The safest haven for PFC. Lynch right now is to claim amnesia. It's the safest harbor for her to rest for right now. I think she remembers a lot more than is being told to the press. By claiming amnesia, the press is kept at bay and she can recover and hopefully escape the glare of the media eventually. Therefore, not becoming anyone's poster child. I think she is smart.

Imagine what would be happening today if it had been a complete plattoon of women injured and killed. The sharks from the right would spout wings and fly. Too bad our society doesn't hold men in the same high regard as it does women. Uhmm...


semper fi,
jchristin

[thedrifter]

Army to probe Lynch capture


By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES



The Army is investigating the Iraqi ambush of a maintenance company that resulted in nine dead soldiers and six prisoners of war, including the capture of Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, who commands the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bliss, Texas, ordered the probe by a team of officers, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said yesterday. Col. Joe Curtin said the "extremely complex" investigation should be completed soon.
One question the team is addressing is the plight of 19-year-old Pfc. Lynch, whose capture by Iraqis and subsequent rescue by an allied special-operations team propelled her to folk-hero status across America.
The Washington Post reported that she staged a fierce fight before capture, emptying a gun and killing Iraqi attackers before being stabbed and shot herself.
But two Pentagon officials in interviews cast doubt on that report. The officials said all evidence suggests that Pfc. Lynch's truck crashed in the chaos of the ambush in the central Iraqi town of Nasiriyah. She suffered several bone fractures and was in no position to put up a fight, the officials said.
But a final determination will await the commander's inquiry, or "15-6," which refers to the regulation authorizing such investigations.
"Part of it will look at what happened to each of the soldiers," Col. Curtin said. "It will determine whether [Pfc. Lynch] was in an accident. When the ambush hit, did the vehicle wreck or did she fight?"
The West Virginian is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. She has told investigators she has no memory of events from the time of the ambush on March 23 until her rescue.
Her unit, the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Co., was moving from Kuwait that day in support of Patriot antimissile batteries being positioned farther north inside Iraq. U.S. Central Command officials have said the company got lost and drove into Nasiriyah by mistake and was unprotected by combat units.
A band of paramilitary Iraqis attacked the truck convoy from all sides. One survivor said the unit immediately descended into chaos and that some of the soldiers' guns jammed.
The commander's inquiry will look into all issues concerning the incident, including leadership, training, any mechanical failures and tactics.
"The goal is lessons learned. Corrective action," Col. Curtin said.
He said Gen. Bromberg may seek judicial and administrative punishment if misconduct is found by any 507th member.
In a parallel investigation, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the ambush to determine whether Iraqis committed war crimes. It is against international law to execute POWs. Nine 507th soldiers died in the ambush or afterward and were found in shallow graves.
Video images of some on Iraqi television appeared to show bullet wounds to the forehead.
Pfc. Lynch's Walter Reed medical team earlier this month released a statement on her progress, after surgery to repair a broken bone in her foot. The hospital said it was likely to be the last in a series of surgeries to repair broken bones.
"Her medical team says her injuries are healing at a satisfactory rate, and there have been no unexpected complications," the hospital said.
"This week, they increased her therapy sessions to twice daily. Occupational therapy helps her with activities of daily living, such as combing her hair, brushing her teeth and other personal hygiene matters," it said. "The physical therapy is designed to help her increase her strength and flexibility."

Sempers,

Roger

[firstsgtmike]

JChristan

"Lets assume that for every 100 women, that 20 are combat worthy. Lets assume that for every 100 men, that 40 are combat worthy.

I believe that those 60 persons who are combat worthy should receive the proper schooling and training to advance their military careers without prejudice. Those who are qualified to be on the front should be placed there, those who are not - should be placed elsewhere."
---------------
First. I would question the source of your 20% 40% figures.

Second. Especially since the evolution of modern day warfare, I believe that the credo "Every Marine is a rifleman" (or rifleperson) is more valid today than it ever was.

Therefore, any Marine not qualified for the front, and who requires another Marine's life on the line to defend them, should seek civilian employment.

Other than that, line by line, I agree with you.

Also, I have reread ALL of my posts concerning women in service, and I have yet to find an internal contradiction. Not that I am too old to learn, but when you are right, why bother to change it?

[JChristin]

firstsgtmike:

The source of my 20% 40% figures is simply an assumption. We can play with the numbers all we want. Such as when applying symbolic logic (truth tables) to arrive as proabable truths. Much like a good defense attorney may do to "spin" truth to her clients best interest. Or an appraiser of special interest real properties, they start with assumptions to uncover truth.

Not being a "feminist" the term rifle"man" doesn't offend me. What would offend me is if someone where to try to change it to "Rifleperson." That's just carrying things too far.

semper fi,
jchristin
000,000,001