Jessica, I knew you would not let me down.

[gardenista]

Well, it looks like Jessica Lynch told the truth in her interview with Dianne Sawyer. She also exposes the BFEE exploitation of her story. Here is what Rove dreaded she would say, and more:

She destroys the "Rambette" myth:

"I'm no hero."

"I did not shoot, not a round, nothing," she tells Sawyer. "When we were told to lock and load, that's when my weapon jammed … I did not shoot a single round … I went down praying to my knees. And that's the last I remember."

She exposes the lack of planning and training that led to the capture of her unit:

She said her convoy was surrounded by Iraqi attackers: "They were coming from everywhere. We had vehicles getting stuck, vehicles running out of gas … our weapons were jamming."

Her unit was ambushed after missing a turn and becoming separated from the convoy they were traveling in. "We weren't thinking quickly. We were so tired, we were hungry … it was just a mistake," Lynch said.

She describes the humane treatment she recieved in the hospital:

Lynch said no one among the staff at the Iraqi hospital was abusive to her, "no one beat me, no one slapped me, no one, nothing … I mean, I actually had one nurse, that she would sing to me."

And, finally, she rebukes the exploitation of her story by Roveco productions:

Asked whether the military's portrayal of the rescue bothers her, Lynch said, "Yeah, it does. It does that they used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff. I mean, yeah, it's wrong … I don't know what they had … or why they filmed it."

All the while she is consistently grateful to the soldiers who rescued her. Four of those soldiers are now dead.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Primetime/US/Jessica_Lynch_031106-4.html

[grytpype]

1. Did she say anything about being pressured by the Junta to change her...

... story? Or about her so-called "amnesia?"

[Marlie]

2. The actual interview

The interview is airing on ABC with Diane Sawyer. Can't say for
sure but believe it's tomorrow night, so we'll actually get to see
that sweet girl tell the truth. The day she came home and they had
that parade, she only spoke a few words but did thank her democratic
congressman, not any of the Bush gang and that impressed me.

[SoCalDem]

4. Her father spoke the truth and we did not hear much from him again

I remember him saying adamantly.. "She was not shot, stabbed or beaten"..He went on to say that the family had not "been able to even talk to her yet".. This was about 10 days AFTER she was in Germany.. The US Govt did not even offer to take her family to her..

There was extreme pressure to "go along" and they fought it..

[gardenista]

3. She only talks about what she can remember

and as far as I can tell, she can't say much about what happened after the crash. But she says plenty about how the BFEE abused her story.

She doesn't talk about being pressured, but the fact that she wouldn't meet with that "lawyer" "rescuer" speaks volumes.

She has not one good word to say about Bush. She has only good things to say about her fellow soldiers.

I DO believe she is a hero, but it is only now that she has summoned immense courage to do a dangerous thing, and that is to destroy the myth they built around her.

[Rose Siding]

5. To Jessica

:hug: Bless her heart

And to Piestewa :hug:

snip>

She says it may have been Piestewa who fought fiercely and went down firing. "That may have been her. But that wasn't me, and I'm not taking credit for it," Lynch said.

Lynch says she remembers Piestewa protecting her: "She was there for me … She had my back the whole time."

[eileen_d]

10. Whenever I think of Lynch, I also think of Piestewa

"the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military"

http://azreporter.com/arizona/news/loripiestewa.html

As for the interview - good for Ms. Lynch. Oh, and fuck the BFEE for their glorification of war.

[gardenista]

15. Lynch has set up a Foundation for Lori Peistewa's two children.

n/t

[QC]

6. Thanks for posting this!

It's a great antidote to some of the truly sick stuff in the other threads.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. There were quite a few people attacking the articles about...

...Rick Bragg's book, and the questionable contents of his book. I don't recall anyone but a very small fringe element that attempted to blame Lynch in any way.

Help me understand what you mean by "truly sick stuff".

[gardenista]

9. You're welcome, that's why I posted it. Her own words

are what have not yet been heard in this whole ugly story.

Her own words. She has a right to speak the truth about what really happened, and I am so proud of that young woman. She must have been under enormous pressure to go along with the whole game. She didn't.

God bless her. She may not have been a hero before, according to her, but in my eyes, she is a hero and a shining example of a young woman who came through a horrible trauma with her soul and conscience intact.

I don't think that she or any of us will ever really know exactly what happened during the period between her capture and delivery to the hospital. However, it's clear that she's willing to tell the truth about what she can remember, even going so far as to speak of the kindness she experienced in the care of Iraqi medical people.

She is a human, and she is a hero. I wish her peace and privacy once this is all over. She just might make it through without being destroyed. I hope she can remain strong, tell her story, and then go back to her private life.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. I appreciate your post...thanks!

[spindoctor]

11. That's all fine and dandy

And as a disclaimer I will add that I wish her nothing but the best, but how much did she receive for "Saving Private Lynch"?

Legally they couldn't make that movie without her explicit permission, could they?

[oldcoot]

12. Yes, I think that they could make the movie without her permission

I seem to remember reading that Lynch initially agreed to cooperate with NBC but later changed her mind.

I do not think that the major networks need to get an individual's permission to produce a movie about that individual's life. For example, I do not think that the network that made the recent Martha Stewart movie actually got her permission for the movie.

[gardenista]

14. And they did. The film you mention is about the so-called lawyer

rescuer, and his "heroics". Lynch contradicts his account that she was slapped in the hospital.

I'd say that the "lawyer rescuer" is the one cashing in here.

It speaks volumes that Lynch did not agree to see him when he descended upon her home town for a promotional photo-op.

[gardenista]

13. "Fine and dandy"

Are terms I would not apply in this case. I might say righteously awesome, for instance. "Fine and dandy" sounds so, I don't know, bitter and cynical.

As for the facts about who is making money from "Saving Private Lynch", why don't you do some research and get back to us with some?

[spindoctor]

16. Fair enough.

Although I raised the issue as a question.

According to E! Online:

"The New York Times reports that the Peacock, as early as tomorrow, may sign a deal with former POW Jessica Lynch, which would make the network's planned movie, Saving Private Lynch, an authorized version of the army private's ordeal during the Iraq war."

"It's not know(n) how much NBC is offering to pay Lynch for her endorsement and insight."

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,12289,00.html

Associated Press:

"Jessica Lynch, the former prisoner of war whose capture and rescue from an Iraqi hospital made her a national hero, has agreed to a $1 million book deal with publisher Alfred A. Knopf."

(Granted, that's for the book, not the movie)

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=132645

I doubt the exact "consulting fee" will ever be disclosed.

[spindoctor]

17. I stand corrected

"Just one day after the NBC television network announced the cast for its film about the ordeal of Army Private Jessica Lynch, Lynch has withdrawn her co-operation.

Her family members scuttled the plan, under which Lynch would have been paid an undisclosed fee for her participation in the film, reports the New York Times.

The family announced they want Jessica's authorised story told first in a book to be published before the end of the year.

Production was due to have started in two weeks on the film about the West Virginia soldier rescued from Iraq, but now the future of the project is unclear."

http://gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=16&relatedChild=8111

[gardenista]

18. Thank you for those links.

It's important to me personally (I have no idea why!?) to get the facts on this, and understand where the money is flowing, because, yes, it is flowing. It always does when a drama such as this, which was so propagandized for self-gain by the BFEE, reaches the public consciousness and the media sees that there are revenues to be made by snowballing the story.

My interest is in learning about and documenting the distinctions between creations which are authorized by Lynch and those which have been and will be, put forth by others, i.e., Mr. "Lawyer/Rescuer".

I am beginning to believe that we have here a very concrete example of the lengths to which the BFEE will go in order to manipulate the public consciousness throught the media. And this is what the Lynch story is about, to me.

I believe that Lynch is not cooperating, and this may offer an opportunity to expose the depravity of Roveco Productions to the folks who get their news from the tube. They all followed this story religiously. They all paid attention to the details. Now the entire house of cards is falling apart because Ms. Lynch is telling the truth.

We may differ on whether or not Ms. Lynch getting paid for telling her story is fair or exploitive of the situation in which she found herself. I, for one, think that if she tells her true story, without participating in Roveco Productions, she deserves to be paid for it, just as, say, Hillary Clinton did for her book. She told a story, in her own words, and she made money from that book. I believe Jessica Lynch has the same right.

I want to carefully watch and compare and contrast the accounts of Jessica and those of Roveco (which includes Mr. Rescuer/Lawyer). Maybe the public will finally, finally catch on.

Edit: spelling

[gardenista]

19. Oh yeah,

I'm sorry I was cranky, but those other threads got my dander up. I realise now that you were genuinely interested in learning about the money trail, and I apologize for being snippy.

[spindoctor]

20. No problem

And yes, I am genuinely interested :)

I also don't blame her for making a buck. She has that right and the opportunity. If she can do so while keeping her integrity, then more power to her.

[gardenista]

21. I know, keeping her integrity will be the tricky part.

But, Geez, that kid has been through a lot, and, frankly, I don't think I could have held up through all of that. I'm weak. Shit, I might have just decided to go for it and put on a damn flight suit! But she genuinely amazes me. My cynicism disappeared when she made her first public announcement and didn't mention Bush once, though she did thank her Democratic Congressman. She also spent most of the time taking about her fellow troops in her unit, and thanking her rescuers, though if I recall correctly, she didn't mention super lawyer.

[RummyTheDummy]

22. This is freakin amazing!

I was watching the promos for NBC's lame, mindless flag waving TV movie about Lynch and I just rolled my eyes.

Then I log on to Drudge (I put on my bio hazard suit first) and saw this plum.

Given the fact that I was protected by my bio hazard suit, I wandered over to FR but couldn't find any threads. Has anyone else seen any? I did a search and found a number of threads championing her for the Congressional Medal of Honor in April, however. I wonder how they feel now?

[gardenista]

23. I'm thinking that if she keeps telling the truth

the Freepers will boycott her book. Which will put it on the best seller list. I look forward to hearing more from Jessica Lynch, and I hope she can hang on to her conscience and integrity. If she does that, she is a true hero.

[LunaC]

24. If the Repugs can kill the Raygun movie

why can't we kill the Junta's "Saving Pvt. Lynch" military love-fest (especially in view of Jessica's candid comments to Diane Sawyer)? I'm not big on censorship but the BFEE version is just pure propaganda and this shit has got to stop.

[gardenista]

25. "Saving Private Lynch" is NOT authorized by Lynch

It is the story as told by the "Rescuer/Lawyer", whom she does not recall seeing, and whom she contradicts when she says that she was not slapped by hospital personnel, and whom she refused to see when he went to her home town seeking a photo-op.

This is what we need to get out there. Ain't no way we will get them to stop the propaganda, but we can start to get the word out that this is NOT her story. By telling the truth, she is giving us a golden opportunity to expose the BFEE machinations.

[Robin Hood]

26. What I don't get is,

This recent stuff on the news about her being raped followed by the statement that she does not remember anything. How does she know if she was raped if she does not remember anything? Is this what the pentagon told her?

[gardenista]

27. The military doctors who examined her

apparently claim that she has scars that would indicate an anal rape. She says, and I believe her, that she does not remember. So we are left to draw our own conclusions.

Sadly, the media is spinning the RAPE RAPE RAPE story, based on the assumption that she was raped. It's too bad that they are not focusing on the truth that is coming from her about her experience. Most importantly:

-She was not a Rambo-like character, as portrayed.

-She was not abused by the hospital workers, as claimed by this Iraqi lawyer who has sold the rights to his story for the film "Saving Private Lynch".

-The hospital was not occupied by Iraqi troops, and the portrayal of her rescue was manipulated by the Pentagon. They used her to gain support for the war and build hatred in the US public toward Iraqis.

She is in for another hard road. I have faith that she will keep telling the truth. The focus on the rape is a way of keeping the story in the frame that the Pentagon and Fox News created.