April 25, 2007
It came as no surprise to bloggers and those who obtain their news from alternate media that the Jessica Lynch story from years ago was nothing but propaganda and lies. The amazing surprise though is the still silent response from mainstream media after the truth came to light today. Last week the corporate media thought the Don Imus stupidity was important enough news to devote nearly a week of full coverage but the discovery that the government is in the business of lying about the sacrifices made my our military gets nary a mention. It would comedic of it was not so chilling.
For those who may not remember, Jessica Lynch was a blond haired girl from West Virginia who had been wounded in Iraq several years ago. The story fabricated by the Pentagon was that she had been rescued in a daring raid at a hospital where she was allegedly abused by her mean and evil Iraqi captors. The raid was even captured on video; no one questioning why this would be captured on film. To add further to her legend, Lynch supposedly was injured while engaging the enemy, firing her weapon against the agents of terror before she finally succumbed to the overwhelming odds. Wow! What a great story! The Pentagon milked it for all it was worth. The story was trumpeted by the corporate media machine as fervor was whipped up for the war.
The story seemed to have holes in it back then and those holes were fully exposed today as Lynch testified before Congress. It turns out that the entire story was an elaborate hoax. A lie perpetrated by our government, against the American people and literally mocking the service and true sacrifice of Private Lynch. She never fired her weapon and was injured without fighting the enemy. Not only that, her “captors” were actually trying to help her in the hospital. Lynch today said they tried to soothe her. They were kind to her in trying to help her recover. There was no need for a raid as she was not being held captive. The entire story was nothing but a lie. Propaganda designed to prop up a failed war. It is not only shameful, it is criminal.
But where is the media outrage? Where is the wall-to-wall coverage we see when an astronaut wears diapers in a cross-country obsession? At the same hearing more details came out about the fratricide killing of Pat Tillman as well. Tillman is another true American hero who was used maliciously by this government to drum up passion about this failed war. Not only did the government lie, but Bush himself has not only lied about Tillman, he has yet to apologize to his family. At the hearing today we heard from members of Tillman’s unit who were ORDERED to not tell Pat’s family that he was killed by friendly fire. Are you kidding me? Where is our media???
We do not need another week of Don Imus. We need honest coverage of this administration and tough questions that will not cease until the entire truth is out and those responsible are held to account. Only with this corporate bought media do we have coverage of Harry Reid, correctly saying the war is lost militarily, being made into the bad guy while the guy who started the war based on lies gets off without being held responsible. Only with this corporate media do we have segments blaming the democratic congress for passing funding for the troops, with even more money than Bush had asked for, while the president gets a free pass for stating he will veto the bill! Did you get that America? The president has promised to veto the bill that would fund the troops and your corporate media has framed it as if it is the Congress that is not funding the troops. It is time to stand up and say no more. If the media will not do its job than we need to simply stop watching them. Money talks.
Jessica Lynch is an American hero. She is a hero for her service to her country. Today she became the legend she should have been by telling the truth. Today she solidified her heroism by coming clean about a government that used her for their own ends. Before Congress she deferred her accolades and reflected to Pat Tillman; saying that some heroes do not get to come home and tell their story. Pat Tillman sacrificed everything for his country and he was used in return. His memory was tarnished by a government that did not care enough about him to simply tell the truth. He and Lynch are representative of a serious problem within the core of our government that deserved more media coverage than Don Imus being Don Imus. I would say that out media has failed us but I grow tired of stating the obvious. The media has now become complicit in the continuing deaths in Iraq. Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch deserved better. All Americans do.
