Hippies Blaming The Military…..Again.

Rich Lowry’s new article is a must read.  It’s about the true hero’s involved in the Jessica Lynch story, and the pathetic attempt by Waxman to make a mockery of our military and our country, and our MSM is only so happy to help him: (h/t Blackfive)

I spent more than two years of my life studying the battle of An Nasiriyah. I read thousands of pages of government reports and personally interviewed nearly one-hundred of the participants of the battle, including four survivors of the 507th Maintenance Company’s ambush, several Marines who came upon the scene of the ambush, a young Marine who worked in the regimental intelligence shop and was responsible for the safekeeping of Jessica’s personal effects, and several of the soldiers, sailors, and Marines who were actually involved in her rescue. The results of my research were published last year in Marines in the Garden of Eden.

Following her rescue, unsubstantiated reports abounded, the media made a variety of assertions: Jessica Lynch was a pretty teenage girl who had been subjected to the ravages of an unjust war. She had been sent into battle with inadequate equipment and protection. After taking a wrong turn, Iraqis feigning surrender had ambushed her unit. Yet, she bravely fought off the enemy until she could resist no longer. Because of the incompetence of the leadership in Washington, D.C., she had been taken prisoner by evil Iraqis who did unspeakable things to her.

This was the type of story that had "legs." Every news producer in America salivated when they read the first copy. They knew that their ratings would skyrocket when the story of this fragile American girl was told. This was the type of story that would go down in history. There was only one problem–most of the story wasn’t true.

He then goes over the battle in pretty good detail and directly contradicts Jessica Lynch’s claim today, or the claim the media wants us to believe she made:

"Tails of great heroism were being told," said Lynch. "Little Girl Rambo who went down fighting. It was not true."

Lynch, who is now attending college classes, said if the stories inspired troops, then perhaps they were of some good.

"But why did they lie and try to make me a lesson when the real heroes were my fellow soldiers who rescued others or fought till the death" she asked.

Lynch said received criticism for having made money from her story, but she noted that "I have injuries that will last a lifetime."

Who exactly lied again?  This media report attempts to make it sound like she is blaming the military but according to those who watched the show trial she rightly blamed the media.

Here is Lowry:

I do not recollect hearing an official military press release stating that Jessica "fought to the last bullet," but I do remember every news channel broadcasting the story day and night for at least a week. No one, absolutely no one, knew what happened to Jessica, for she was the only survivor of her vehicle and she lay close to death for a week in the Saddam Hospital in downtown Nasiriyah

[…]It seems to me that Congressman Waxman and his committee should be investigating how the media perverted the story to build its ratings. It is appalling how little regard some of today’s journalists have for the truth. CENTCOM immediately announced Jessica’s rescue. It was good news. But, it was the American media that ran the 15-second video of her rescue over and over and over and over again. It was the American media that turned her rescue into a propaganda event. And they did it for the worst of reasons.

The show trials put on by Waxman are an embarrassment to the Democrat party.  Should Tillman’s brother be pissed off about how the military treated his death, definitely.  But for him to somehow claim that our mission isn’t honorable because of it is just plain retarded, and dangerous. 

Starting to feel like the 60’s again?

UPDATE

Rich Lowry comments at Blackfive after a heated discussion on whether the military "allowed" the media to portray Jessica as some kind of hero:

Hello all,

I would like to lay into this discussion.

Someone wrote: "The media rightly should have also been on trial in Waxman’s hearing. Having said that, I will point out that the DOD did little if anything to counter the Lynch or the Tillman stories once the media grabbed it. Why would they when it help them politically at the time?"

If someone were interested in what really happened, they would know that "The Military" did not know what happened to Jessica Lynch until long after the media frenzy. Once they found out that Sgt Donald Walters’ was the person who "Fought to his last bullet," they were involved in a criminal investigation to bring his murderers to justice.

So in the short-term, no one knew what Jessica had endured. What was the DoD to say. "No – it didn’t happen that way. But, we don’t know what happened." They had nothing to announce.

In the long-term, once they knew of Donald Walters murder, they could not jeopardize the investigation by talking about it. Actually, the DoD did make an announcement when Walters was awarded his Silver Star, but declined to provide details because they were still investigating.

And, as for Jessica’s testimony today, she did a wonderful job. She eloquently supported the Army and her country and when asked said that it was the media that proliferated her story, not the military.

But hey, it’s the 60’s man….gotta blame the baby killers.

UPDATE

Rich updated with more comments to Blackfive about the real heroes that the media is ignores while railing against our military:

"there really are many many heroes in this war that the LMSM refuses to trumpet"

That is exactly why I took the time to write "Marines in the Garden of Eden." In it, I tell the stories of brave soldiers, sailors and Marines, from Private Patrick Miller to Hospital Corpsman Luis Fonseca, Lance Corporal Donald Cline, Sergeant Donald Walters, Lieutenant James Reid, Captain Eric Garcia and Major Bill Peeples.

Miller probably saved Jessica and Shoshana Johnson’s life when he fought nearly to his last bullet. Fonseca threw his body over wounded Marines he was treating to protect them from mortar shrapnel. Cline died helping his fellow wounded Marines. Walters was left behind enemy lines, captured and murdered. Reid was seriously wounded three times in the battle and continued to fight.

Eric Garcia flew his CH-46 medevac helicopter into one of the hottest fire zones in the center of Nasiriyah to evacuate wounded Marines. Then he returned two more times to evacuate more Marines, still under fire. At least three of the Marines he evacuated would have died had it not been for his courage and dedication to duty. Eric was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.

Major Bill Peeples was a tank company commander. He charged forward in the early morning to rescue ten of the beleagured soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company. Later that day, he responded to a call for assistance with a platoon of tanks (4) and won the raging battle at the Euphrates River Bridge. Then, he proceeded with his tank and his wingman to drive through Ambush Alley to relieve a Marine Company that was close to being overrun. Peeples’ and his wingman turned the battle north of the Saddam Canal with their two tanks.

Major Peeples was not done yet. He returned to Ambush Alley in his tank (with no additional support). He stopped his tank in front of a building in which a squad of Marines were stranded. He jumped from the safety of his M1, under continuous fire, and helped load wounded on to his tank. Then he drove the wounded to safety. Major Peeples was awarded a Silver Star, I personally believe he should have received the Medal of Honor.

Each of these men, and so many more that I cannot list them here, acted in the highest traditions of the U.S. Military during the battle for An Nasiriyah. I told their stories. I am proud to have had the opportunity to document their courage and committment.

Curt

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