Iraqi Doctors Dispute Lynch Rape Claim

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iraq-jessica-lynch,0,2863419.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- Iraqi doctors who treated former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch dismissed on Friday claims made in her biography that she was raped by her Iraqi captors.

Although Lynch said she has no memory of the sexual assault, medical records cited in "I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story" indicate that she was raped and sodomized by her Iraqi captors, according to U.S. media who said they had advance copies.

The book -- due to be released Tuesday -- covers Lynch's experience between March 23 when her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed in Nasiriyah and April 1 when she was evacuated from a hospital by U.S. commandos. It was unclear if the book cites American or Iraqi records.

A family spokesman, Stephen Goodwin, confirmed the book alleges Lynch was raped.

Lynch suffered broken bones to her right arm, right leg and thighs and ankle and received a head injury when her Humvee utility vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed into another vehicle. Eleven soldiers were killed in the attack.

Dr. Mahdi Khafazji, an orthopedic surgeon at Nasiriyah's main hospital performed surgery on Lynch to repair a fractured femur and said he found no signs that she was raped or sodomized.

Khafazji, speaking at his private clinic in Nasiriyah, said he examined her extensively and would have detected signs of sexual assault. He said the examination turned up no trace of semen.
<snip>

'Nuff said.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. I believe the Iraqi doctor.

<snip>
Khafazji, speaking at his private clinic in Nasiriyah, said he examined her extensively and would have detected signs of sexual assault. He said the examination turned up no trace of semen.

Dr. Khafazji said Lynch was taken first to the Military Hospital, a few hundred yards from the ambush site at around 8 a.m., about an hour after the attack. A few hours later, she was brought to his hospital.

"She was injured at about 7 in the morning," he said. "What kind of animal would do it to a person suffering from multiple injuries?"
<snip>

When will they give up on this propoganda?

[Skittles]

2. there are plenty of men who would rape a badly injured person

but I do believe this doctor

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

12. I'm sure there are people who would, but 'plenty?' I like to think not.

Also, I can't imagine even a pervert trying to gang rape someone during an active firefight/invasion. It just doesn't make sense.

[Skittles]

32. UM

I'll stand my claim. PLENTY.

[Bucky]

34. I stand by your claim, too

I'm dittoing (argh, my second ditto this year!) what you said. The Iraq army was plenty full of thugs and plenty angry enough to take their anger out on an American woman.

The rape story should NOT be politicized. It dishonors the dead killed in the war for oil and revenge. Lynch is an extraordinary woman and she's apparently been thru hell. She's got the courage, character, and conviction to stand up and denounce the War Machine's abuse of her reputation. God bless her.

I'll just wait for the Lifetime cable TV movie to come out, thank you very much. (Yes, Swoozie Kurtz as Pvt Jessica and James Gandolfini as her abusive ex-husband, Saddam, will be a bit of a stretch, but it'll be as close to reality as the Pentagon's perverted version of events).

[Dhalgren]

4. I agree, Bill.

These Iraqi doctors and nurses have told the truth from the start. Subsequent reports and investigations have corroborated everything that they have said. If Khafazji says there was no sign of a sexual assault, I believe him. And I think that if there is even the slightest chance that this lie will help Bush get elected, we will be hearing it from now on - Willie Horton, anyone?

[xultar]

3. OK, $500 bucks the Iraqi Doctors turn up dead somewhere...

[Dhalgren]

6. Jesus god! Don't even say that!

These Iraqi doctors have been some of the few real heros in this whole god-awful mess! Here's hoping they live long, prosperous lives!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

5. This is going to get very nasty, really quickly.

I think the Repubs have taken on Lynch as poster girl, they're not going to give up easy. I really pity her.

[Dhalgren]

7. Yeah, and what will the Repubs to do her

when she refuses to "play ball"? It could be ugly...real ugly.

[gardenista]

13. It's already started

This is why the extraordinary focus on the alleged rape. To deflect from the simple truth emmanating from her own words. She does not remember being raped. She was treated kindly by the Iraqi doctors. She refutes the hype.

This is where the rape really starts.

I wish her strength. She is going to need it.

[kayell]

15. Another possible reason for the rape story

Rape is effective at turning a woman into an object in the publics view. The thought of being raped is so repugnant (particularly anal rape) that people feel a need to distance themselves from the victim, seeing her as in some way different than themselves. This accusation of rape not only is politically useful in demonizing Iraqis, but it serves another purpose in making people less empathetic with Jessica Lynch. It also allows the BFEE to say something along the lines of "poor little thing (notice the word), she's so traumatized that she is in denial about what really happened to her".

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. It's a good way to bolster anti-Iraqi feeling and shore up war support

'Those damned arab heathens raped our pretty blonde white girl'

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

18. Good points. Consider the recent Bush shift to including "RAPE ROOMS"

in his description of the Hussein regime at every chance he gets and trying to associate "the sex slave trade" with all non democratic (read: anyone he doesn't like) countries.

[0007]

38. Jessica may just flip off the lying right wingers!

Who indeed knows if she has been raped, except her and doctors. Jesica sez she can't remember then the doctor must know.

This is indeed a joke!!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. And she doesn't want it. Read link below: Jessica Lynch Laments Military

Portrayal

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2533.AP-Lynch-Hometown.html

PALESTINE, W.Va. (AP)--Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch accused the military of using her capture and dramatic nighttime rescue to sway public support for the war in Iraq.

Dramatic video of U.S. commandos whisking the former Army supply clerk from a Nasiriyah hospital to a waiting chopper April 1 helped cement Lynch's image as a hero. But the 20-year-old private told ABC's Diane Sawyer there was no reason for her rescue to be filmed.

``They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff,'' Lynch told Sawyer in a ``Primetime'' interview to air Tuesday. ``It's wrong.''

<snip>

[Screaming Lord Byron]

11. Yeah, I know, she's actually much braver in real life than on TV

[burythehatchet]

39. When this whole thing started

my first thought was "God help her...this is going to ruin her life"

[kayell]

8. You really have to wonder what kind of twisted mind would create

an alleged sodomy rape, either as forged medical records or as a sensational method of selling a book. Imagine the trauma that wondering whether such a thing happened would inflict on a woman, her family and fiance.

Duh, (slaps forehead) but of course we know what kind of twisted mind.

[lostnfound]

17. The same kind that creates stories of babies thrown from incubators

Lauri Fitz-Pegado? (But why did she get appointed to an undersecretary's position in the Clinton administration...I don't understand it.) Tolerance for completely discredited "professionals" has become a disease in our culture.

[saigon68]

19. WHAT AN EVIL MAN

NOW WE HAVE RAPE CAMPS AGAIN----YUKK

[onehandle]

10. "Rape DIDN'T HAPPEN" is not in the article...

Your heading is misleading.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. That's why I put it in parenthesis. SOP for opinion or comment.

Sorry if I caused you to read something you didn't want to read. :-)

[TahitiNut]

20. No, it's "SOP" for clarification only

One of the several reasons LBN rules insist on using the title of the article as the Subject of the Original Message is to cut down on opinionation in the thread title. Opinion articles belong elsewhere. Please edit the title to reflect the article headline.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
TahitiNut - DU moderator

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

23. Done and I stand corrected! Thanks for your work here, TahitiNut

After last night, we need to start shipping you high test Starbucks so you can be here 24-7. Your efficient monitoring was sorely missed.

[TahitiNut]

25. We all think Punkingal did an excellent job.

There was more happening at that time than almost any single DUer could see. I'm personally quite favorably impressed by the diligence and fairness of the folks I'm volunteering with this term. I often find it tough to keep up. (There've been some difficult episodes.)

Thank you for your prompt and courteous cooperation on the headline. Good show. :thumbsup:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

26. Oh, she did a great job! She couldn't be everywhere at once.

Back to the topic now!

[arcane1]

22. she did remark on alleged "abuse" but I'm not sure if the rape counts

Initial reports also suggested that Miss Lynch had been abused after she came round in the hospital. She says that again was untrue - there was no mistreatment, and one nurse used to sing to her.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3251731.stm

[SCAMBABY]

21. I'm about to the point...

I don't believe any of them.

[Noordam]

24. I am sorry I do not have her name but what about the Black

Female Soldier. Mmmmmmm.......

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. Shoshanna Johnson....wounded soldier, POW, and single mother...

...nope, no book or movie deals for her. At at 30% disability, she is receiving far less than the 80% disability that Lynch is getting.

Ex-POW's Family Accuses Army Of Double Standard on Benefit
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8791-2003Oct23.html>

[Noordam]

30. OH I forgot, those Evil Iraqis only Rape Blond Female Soldiers

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr,,,,,,

She was in the Iraqi hospital for 3+ weeks and she does not remember being raped, BUT BUT it is on her "medical records". Sure if they riped her up that would show after 3+ weeks. BUT THEN she would be screaming from the top of the world about the "rape"........

[Liberator_Rev]

37. America is no longer racist, don't ya know?

Thanks for pointing this out, Media_lies :
...nope, no book or movie deals for her. At at 30% disability, she is receiving far less than the 80% disability that Lynch is getting.

Ex-POW's Family Accuses Army Of Double Standard on Benefit
< http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8791-2003Oct23.html >

You might like our http://www.LiberalsLikeChrist.Org/racism page.

[Old and In the Way]

27. How long was she in Iraqi custody?

I think this is important.

(1) She doen't remember and there were no other American witnesses to the event, I believe.

(2) Wasn't she in captivity for 3-4 weeks? If so, what evidence of such an assault would still be observable? Given the degree of her initial injuries, how could this definitive conclusion be arrived at?

Given what seems to be a very small window of opportunity for this assault to happen and the fact that she received very good treatment by the Iraqi Drs., I wonder about the veracity of this claim.

They lied about her heroic fight and her wounds....is this kind of anti-Iraqi propaganda above these people who lied about the reasons for war? I think not.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. Looks like Lynch was held captive for less than two weeks,...

...maybe no longer than nine days. At that point in time, the Iraqi military abandoned the area and the hospital. Several hours later the special ops people "rescued" Lynch.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

31. Tough to believe...

that nine (or perhaps ten) days after the incident, and considering the general trauma that she endured, that anybody could conclusively determine that she had been raped.

And given the accounts of the Iraqi doctors (that her clothing was intact), I find it hard to believe that her captors would have a) not just killed her on the spot or b) redressed her after a savage sexual assault.

[Dogmudgeon]

33. Raped, Not Raped -- It doesn't matter

She's a symbol. Which she herself realizes, and doesn't like.

"Too bad -- here's your TS card, soldier! Now get back in that line!" She's the symbol of the Flower of American Maidenhood. She'll get her million-dollar payoff and strict instructions to keep her pretty little blonde-hair-framed pie-hole shut for the duration.

And Shoshana Johnson? I think she has about one month left before some crusading Republican accuses her of Playing the Race Card. "So sit down and shut up, Buckwheat! Or else you'll be whining about your disability pension from a luxurious stinkhole in some backwater VA hospital overrun with bugs, rodents, and forgotten by God and the Department of Defense."

Jessica Lynch's private life is now forfeit. Her cute little head, her toned and sexy body, her vagina and anus and every instance of retrograde amnesia and combat trauma are now all the stuff of public mythopoesis and propaganda. It stinks, it will never get any better, and it will happen again, and again, and as often as the warfare state demands.

--bkl

[Bucky]

35. You are crude, crass, jaded, atavistic, cynical

....I only wish you were wrong.

[burythehatchet]

40. Thanks for saying what needs to be said

[eablair3]

36. what kind of medical evidence shows anal rape after 9 plus days or more?

>>>>Although Lynch said she has no memory of the sexual assault, medical records cited in "I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story" indicate that she was raped by her Iraqi captors, according to U.S. media who said they had advance copies.<<<<<<<<

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/11/07/international1431EST0621.DTL&type=printable

Does anyone know what type of medical records these are?

Let's see -- she was injured at 7am. she was at the hospital by 8am and in surgery thereafter where the Iraqi doctors saved her life.

She then was in the hospital for 9 more days.

She then was picked up by the U.S. armed forces and propaganda film crew after those 9 days.

The propaganda campaign then started in full force moments after she was picked up by the armed forces and the propaganda film crew.

She then probably took a day or more to get to real medical care, perhaps in Germany?

What kind of evidence would there be after 9 plus days to indicate that she was anally raped?

Who generated the medical reports?

I bet we'll have to wait for the foregin media, like the BBC, to find these things out.

[FlaGranny]

41. For one thing, for a rape to be evident

after a week or so, there would have had to have been damage done (injury is the rule in anal rape). If there had been damage done, she would have had no doubts about the alleged rape. Therefore, I very much doubt the story.