Very interesting article on Salon today talking about the fact that US media sources over-glorified the Jessica Lynch story.
A few of the facts that foreign news sources have uncovered:
- Lynch was not shot, stabbed, nor beaten by Iraqi soldiers. Her injuries resulted from a jeep crash after Iraqi soldiers shot a grenade at it.
- Staff at the hospital treated Lynch very well, including donating blood when she needed some (the hospital had a few hundred casualties that came in at the same time as Lynch, and they quickly went through their blood supply).
- Hospital staff tried to return Lynch to the American troops a few days before the raid. However, the American troops opened fire on the ambulance before the hospital staff could let the Americans know that Lynch was in the ambulance.
- Iraqi troops had abandoned the hospital two days before the American raid.
At first, I was a bit leery about this story. But Salon is a trusted source, and they have checked out the story. So why would the media (along with the Pentagon) manufacture a story? The answer is pretty easy. The Jessica Lynch story made a lot of people feel good about the war. Not only were we “saving the world from Saddam’s tyrrany,” but we also saved Pvt. Lynch from the evil Iraqi soldiers. And we got to see the video of the dramatic rescue! What better way to keep the American public happy than to feed them something straight out of an action movie? Even if that means stretching the story a bit?