Monday, November 10, 2003
Updating Pvt. Lynch
Atrios has an interesting post on his reaction of the Lynch affair, somewhere. Sorry, I can't seem to find the link.
Billmon at Whiskey Bar has a much longer one on the subject, as always, an original and fascinating addition to the discussion.
And Jeanne at Body And Soul, picks up on a new attitutde toward the waifish war hero over at Fox News.
My own thoughts in the post below were a provisional attempt to wrest the little blonde from West Virginia from the fickle clutches of Drudge, Fox and talk radio, and to view her, the person of Pfc. Lynch, from some other perspective than a propogandist's.
The weekend has brought new confusions to the story of exactly what happened to her in Iraq. Reports about TIME's selections from the Bragg book tell of her battling with Iraqi surgeons getting ready to amputate her leg, yelling at them not to. Apparently, the book claims that the amputation was considered necessary before she was airlifted to another hospital or to Baghdad; there is also a suggestion that she was being readied for a role in a propoganda film. None of this comes from Jessica herself, who doesn't remember anything from the time of her capture, until she woke up on the hospital from which she was rescued.
The doctors at this latter hospital are already denying the story told in the book. As to the matter of rape, the book makes some such claim based on "medical records," although which records isn't made clear. It sounds like the records might be from the initial hospitilization in Germany. No actual medical rape investigation was done, but injuries suggest, according to this version of what happened, she was anally penetrated. There are quotes from family members verifying their belief, based on what they've been told about those medical records, that this did happen.
I think it is these reports that caused the always excellent "Pansypoo," to question, in a comment to my post, Lynch's believability. I would caution all of us to wait to see what Jessica has to say for herself, and to remember that both she and her family are often only reporting what others say happened. What still stands out to me, is her refusal to be fit into other people's narratives. I should also have pointed out that Jessica has called Lori Piestewa, with whom she was best friends, the real hero, and that Jessica has also fully supported Shoshonna Johnson in her attempts to get the kind of disability benefits awarded to Jessica.
Billmon at Whiskey Bar has a much longer one on the subject, as always, an original and fascinating addition to the discussion.
And Jeanne at Body And Soul, picks up on a new attitutde toward the waifish war hero over at Fox News.
My own thoughts in the post below were a provisional attempt to wrest the little blonde from West Virginia from the fickle clutches of Drudge, Fox and talk radio, and to view her, the person of Pfc. Lynch, from some other perspective than a propogandist's.
The weekend has brought new confusions to the story of exactly what happened to her in Iraq. Reports about TIME's selections from the Bragg book tell of her battling with Iraqi surgeons getting ready to amputate her leg, yelling at them not to. Apparently, the book claims that the amputation was considered necessary before she was airlifted to another hospital or to Baghdad; there is also a suggestion that she was being readied for a role in a propoganda film. None of this comes from Jessica herself, who doesn't remember anything from the time of her capture, until she woke up on the hospital from which she was rescued.
The doctors at this latter hospital are already denying the story told in the book. As to the matter of rape, the book makes some such claim based on "medical records," although which records isn't made clear. It sounds like the records might be from the initial hospitilization in Germany. No actual medical rape investigation was done, but injuries suggest, according to this version of what happened, she was anally penetrated. There are quotes from family members verifying their belief, based on what they've been told about those medical records, that this did happen.
I think it is these reports that caused the always excellent "Pansypoo," to question, in a comment to my post, Lynch's believability. I would caution all of us to wait to see what Jessica has to say for herself, and to remember that both she and her family are often only reporting what others say happened. What still stands out to me, is her refusal to be fit into other people's narratives. I should also have pointed out that Jessica has called Lori Piestewa, with whom she was best friends, the real hero, and that Jessica has also fully supported Shoshonna Johnson in her attempts to get the kind of disability benefits awarded to Jessica.
