didn't anyone see my thread from a while back? jeez...
i wouldn't say she was a coward. but i'll say this, there's lots of guys who should be on TV over her. she's nothing special. she was unconscious for most of the firefight, and that's the only reason why i don't say she's a coward. it's hard to categorize the unconscious as being cowards. likewise it's hard to categorize the unconscious as being heros. which means she CERTAINLY doesn't deserve a million dollar book deal, every TV station in the country FAWNING over her, and get movies made left and right.
however, there must be country bashing here. not really country, but pentagon. although i for one would like to see the military be... well, the MILITARY, free of politics and DEFEND the country, it is unfortunately a political body that bows to the whim of a civilian leadership wrapped up in image, spin, and politics. this is an unfortunate state for the military because it reduces its effectiveness if it is allowed to be politicised. the military should fight when asked to, withdraw when ordered to. it is hte military, it should do this to the LETTER.
with that said, the reality is that the pentagon is a political organism, and it is trying to justify its own existence. it recognizes that public opinion is shifting against it, and so it MADE jessica lynch a hero. think about it, a unit of the most highly trained militarymen in the world, armed with enough ammunition to overthrow Qatar, goes into an iraqi hospital that doesn't have even ONE iraqi soldier defending it, to "rescue" lynch from doctors that not only didn't stand in their way, but led the soldiers TO HER... and all the while, they were conveniently carrying cameras that taped the adventure start to finish. i'm sorry is it SOP to give cameras to soldiers? no, it was all footage needed to boost morale. and it was GOLD. i mean, the fact taht not one person was hurt, not one shot was fired, made people believe in the invincibility of the american forces. nevermidn the fact that no shots were fired because tehre was no one to shoot...
what else did the pentagon do? they reported that lynch was fighting tooth and nail, with stab wounds and bullet wounds, shooting at iraqis to her last bullet. well now we know that the person that actually did that was a sargent walker, who was killed and buried in a shallow grave. yet the pentagon let the word out, and probably after it learned the truth, allowed the rumour to propogate itself, making everyone think, "wow, that good ol' american gal fought for every inch..." then reality-man intervenes and says, "wait, how can she fight tooth and nail with a jammed gun and a strong aversion to the cognative state?" the pentagon SHAMELESSLY propogated the story, and when it learned that sargent WALKER was the one who fought so hard against the iraqis, rather than tear down the myth of jessica lynch, they kept it quiet, so that nobody KNEW aobut walker, unless you're a bitter angry lunatic like myself.
what i think is the grosser atrocity here isn't that jessica lynch was a coward, she was nothing of such, but it was the dispicable fact taht the pentagon KNEW that it was walker who gave his life defending his fellow soldiers, and then didn't publicize it. i think that the 1 million dollar book deal for jessica isn't so much an affront to his memory and his family as the fact that the pentagon quietly forgot and chose to disregard the service and the honor he brought to the marine corps.
i salute walker, and shame on rumsfeld's cronies for spitting on his grave.
