>>The Jessica Lynch "story" was not fed to the media by the military. The "media" fabricated the "story" and then blamed the "military" for trying to invent "propaganda". Except for one highly excitable medical corps Captain, who was later slapped down hard by the military, the ONLY official word by military sources was "we don't know the status of Lynch, and that she isn't the only POW we are concerned about".<<
Hello. I'm new to this forum, having just found it through a link via MountainRunner. I've had several careers -- soldier, journalist and, most recently, am in communications with the U.S. goverment. In 2003, I was a Pentagon reporter for Army Times and the other Military Times newspapers.
The Lynch story grew the way many modern news stories grow. I recall seeing a story in the Washington Post shortly after her capture, showing her Basic Training picture, and not thinking much of it. My wife, more in tune to pop culture than I've ever been, immediately grew fascinated and said something to the effect, "she's got such a girl-next-door look, this will be a big story."
The Defense Department played a strong and pro-active role in feeding the media hunger that grew over Lynch. Late on April 1, 2003, General Vince Brooks put out a terse news release saying she had been captured, followed by more in-depth information. The next day, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke aired the video in the Pentagon news briefing. Here is a quote from the transcript:
Presenter: Victoria Clarke, ASD PA April 02, 2003 1:00 PM EST
DoD News Briefing - ASD PA Clarke and Maj. Gen. McChrystal
(Also participating was Maj. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, vice director for Operations, J-3, Joint Staff. Slides from today's briefing are available at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2...2-D-6570C.html
Clarke: Good afternoon, everybody. Progress continues in the war to end the Iraqi regime. As we close in on Baghdad, U.S. forces continue their attacks on enemy forces near Karbala, Al Kut, and An Najaf. Our forces air and ground are performing superbly and continue to degrade the Republican Guard significantly. While we're moving forward we want to underscore again that some of the toughest fighting may well lie ahead.
Yesterday, as you know, coalition Special Forces rescued Army Private Jessica Lynch from captivity by the Iraqi regime. PFC Lynch was taken from a hospital where she was being guarded near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq. She's in good spirits and being treated for injuries. I think we have a video clip. (Pause .. Clip show.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcrip...nscriptid=2236
Here are links to official Defense Department releases by the American Forces Press Service related to the Lynch rescue, which depict how it was being officially portrayed, to include inuendo that some of Lynch's companions may have been tortured to death. AFIS is the Pentagon's in-house news and informaton service, co-located with Pentagon Public Affairs. Please also note the links to DoD-produced television programs related to Lynch.
American POW Rescued From Iraqis (April 1, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29181
More Details on Lynch Rescue, 11 Bodies Found (April 2, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29178
Lynch Family Overjoyed by Rescue (April 2, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29173
Lynch Recovering From Captivity in Landstuhl Hospital (April 4, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29162
Iraqi Family Risks it all to Save American POW (April 4, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29160
Lynch to Rescuers: "I'm an American Soldier, Too" (April 5, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29157
Lynch Gets Family Visit in Germany (April 8, 2003)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/news....aspx?id=29143
Finally, here is an interesting article by the British newspaper The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...956255,00.html
An excerpt says:
In the early hours of April 2, correspondents in Doha were summoned from their beds to Centcom, the military and media nerve centre for the war. Jim Wilkinson, the White House's top figure there, had stayed up all night. "We had a situation where there was a lot of hot news," he recalls. "The president had been briefed, as had the secretary of defence."
The journalists rushed in, thinking Saddam had been captured. The story they were told instead has entered American folklore. Private Lynch, a 19-year-old clerk from Palestine, West Virginia, was a member of the US Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company that took a wrong turning near Nassiriya and was ambushed. Nine of her US comrades were killed. Iraqi soldiers took Lynch to the local hospital, which was swarming with fedayeen, where he was held for eight days. That much is uncontested.
Releasing its five-minute film to the networks, the Pentagon claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated.
And...
A military cameraman had shot footage of the rescue. It was a race against time for the video to be edited. The video presentation was ready a few hours after the first brief announcement. When it was shown, General Vincent Brooks, the US spokesman in Doha, declared: "Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade."