Depends. If they can really hype this up as another survivor story, and gloss over the truth. Makes me curious, though. GB (BBC) is the one who broke the story with details - so will they become a coalition ally in this venture too? Also, this invasion produced no medal awards, no big stories - the WH must be salivating. What a world!
Persons in similar situations of injury and recovery have been interviewed before (the Iraqui boy who'd lost his arms and legs, for example). That she is being kept isolated, and that her family isn't talking, suggests that the folks in charge don't want her or the family talking. Would you not love to be a fly on the wall during the conversations between Pentagon officials and the father?
Let's say that this young lady decides NOT to go along with the program. Let's say that she refuses to support this contrived tale and turns down all offers for interviews, books and movie deals. Let's say that she is a true soldier, a straight shooter with a conscience. If she refuses to be a part of this sham, what will happen to her?
I'm not here to debate this topic but here is a link from today's Washington Post that tells the entire story. I don't know what's true or what's not but I found it to be a fascinating read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2760-2003Jun16.html?nav=hptop_tb
Oooops, just notice that Diddie posted this also. Oh well.
"I think she's a pawn with no way out." Ouch! Victim! Woman! No way! (I get very edgy when women are referred to as pawns -- people, okay, but women.... bad myth to revive...)
I don't think she a pawn or helpless, but she (and her family) are in the middle of some HUGE forces all wanting some control over her story. Our military and the big media corporations, being two. No one who's not used to that kind of pressure would have an easy time of it...
More details--some conflicting--about the same story:
Bloody Sunday
I think the real issue is that she's a soldier who's become a pawn -- which is a disgrace... P's me off.
To this adminstration, EVERYONE is a pawn.
Yeah, as in "hostage." This administration is putting us and future generations into hock for billions in less than three years. c.i.
More like trillions, Boss . . .
It starts, D'art, with having people in this country who feel powerless. Is that the kind of nation we should have?
More on the media, folks, like it or not!:
Four years ago, Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture, barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And all too soon came Bhutan's first crime wave - murder, fraud, drug offences.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975769,00.html
This parallels my experience of the arrival of TV in a remote area of Spain in the mid to late '60's. Particularly with respect to crime and drugs.
That Bloody Sunday story adds another dimension. Tart - I think it's important for the admin to play her up as a woman. Lots of parts to this - she's an attractive young woman, right coloring, right age,severely wounded. This admin is hardly noted for its attention to women, so that was a God-given opportunity. And they're so used to lying and having the public believe their lies, that I think at this point they don't even think about it.
But the media. I agree with you in principle on some of this - CBS has lost me. There s no integrity there at all. I can see playing up a big story - but what story are they going to tell? This puts them in league with the big WH propaganda machine.
A pox on all their heads. To think they talked about Clinton and common dencency and respect and virtues - all that hot air flowing out of their mouths an ears. No wonder the poles are melting!
Tartarin wrote,
"I think she's a pawn with no way out." Ouch! Victim! Woman! No way! (I get very edgy when women are referred to as pawns -- people, okay, but women.... bad myth to revive...)
Referring to her as a pawn had nothing to do with her being female. I don't know how you got there, Tart. Her sex doesn't come into play here at all. She's a soldier that may have found herself caught up in some **** created by her Commander in Chief (?) and his friends. Male or female, that's one hell of a spot to be in.
I think that the even the most self-assured, worldly and intelligent among us would be challenged by the kind of squeeze Pvt. Lynch must be feeling right now. Growing up in a small town in W. Virginia, one suspects she wasn't exposed to any of this before her 15 minutes of fame extended to days and weeks.
Journalists can be absolutely relentless when this sort of hunt is on. Add to that the military's stake in it--I can't even imagine how tough it must be.
Unless she has the will and courage to say, "I don't want any of this," she's going to have a hard time maintaining any control over her story.
It's horrendous. It's triply horrendous that the government would, essentially, be in league with a National Enquirer-level siege-by-paparazzi, and that people will be lining up to pay to see the results. The nobility of the soldier has been emphasized over and over in these discussions -- will the same people now be watching all this with fascination? I'd like to see a citizen rescue of Lynch from the real enemies -- not from the Iraqis who helped her, but from the military and the media. They are our enemies too, and the sooner we do something about it, the better.
Agreed, Tartarin! That's the rescue Pvt. Lynch needs right now...
Amen. But how? How can we let Pvt. Ryan know that she is being watched over?
Right now, as I write, Talk of the Nation is about to devote most of its program to Jessica Lynch and what happened... npr.org
