Private Lynch: The Unanswered Questions

[thedrifter]

Private Lynch: The Unanswered Questions

Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
Monday, July 21, 2003

The Center for Military Readiness has asked Army officials to investigate and answer the following questions about the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Unit, and the subsequent rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
A preliminary Army investigative report released on July 10 answered many questions about the valor of the ambushed soldiers, but it did not address the Iraqi treatment of American captives.

1. A disturbing video of apparently executed soldiers was shown on Al Jazeera TV, together with the frightened faces of Spec. Shoshana Johnson and four male captives. One month later, the remains of the last-identified casualty of the March 23 ambush were finally found. Why have Pentagon officials been so reluctant to discuss the circumstances of the death of soldiers and Marines involved in the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Unit, including those who appear to have been abused and executed point blank in violation of international law?

2. Army Sgt. Cassaundra Grant lost her left leg, and eventually her right, when she was pinned under a tank that her transportation unit was moving in Kuwait on March 14. She was treated at Walter Reed Hospital, and eventually transferred to the Brooke Medical Center in Texas on April 3 -- the same day that the sensationalized Jessica Lynch story headlined the Washington Post. Her story conflicts with the glamorized women-in-combat agenda. Were efforts made to suppress or eclipse the story of Sgt. Casaundra Grant, especially on the day that she left Walter Reed? Are there stories about other female soldiers that so far have been considered too sensitive to reveal?


3. The Washington Post reported on June 17 that the unconscious Pfc. Lynch and her still-alive friend Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a single mother of two small children, arrived at a nearby Iraqi headquarters facility three hours after the ambush. Experts say that the first 3-6 hours are the most perilous for captives who are at the mercy of enraged thugs who never heard of the Geneva Convention. Army helicopter pilots CWO Ronald Young, Jr. and CWO David Williams said that they were brutally beaten when they were captured in central Iraq on March 23.

If the Post account is correct, what happened to the male and female soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Unit, and the Marines who tried to rescue them, during the hours immediately following the ambush?


4. According to embedded MSNBC reporter Kerry Sanders, an Iraqi resident asked him to ?Please make sure the people in charge know that she [Lynch] is being tortured.? MSNBC also reported that Marines had previously found at the first Iraqi facility that received the prisoners a bloody uniform of a kind used by female soldiers, and a metal bed with a car battery next to it. These items, they said, suggested that the place was a torture chamber. (Wire reports, April 3, and Bill Gertz, Washington Times, April 23)

Why have officials not released more information, including medical and autopsy reports, about the treatment of Pfc. Lynch, Pfc. Lori Piestewa, and other captives who were killed or taken to one or both facilities? (Laws protecting privacy do not apply to deceased military personnel.)


5. The regime of Saddam Hussein was known to beat male and female prisoners with canes, whips, pipes, and metal rods, especially on the soles of a victim?s feet. Female Iraqi prisoners were frequently raped and their children tortured in front of their husbands. Lawyer Mohammed Odeh Al Rehaief, who assisted in the rescue of Jessica Lynch, told Marines that he had seen an Iraqi woman killed and dragged through the street, apparently because she had waved at a U.S. helicopter. Were any of these torture techniques used on the women of the 507th, or any other women or men deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom?

6. Qatar-based CENTCOM briefer Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told reporters that the extent of Jessica Lynch?s injuries would not be discussed ?in the interests of her privacy.? Such terms are rarely used, except in cases of sexual assault.

Some discretion is appropriate, but why were Pfc. Lynch?s injuries treated as a completely private matter, unlike other injuries that are routinely discussed in the media? Is there medical evidence of physical abuse, including sexual assault, while she was in captivity?


7. The ever-vigilant parents of Jessica Lynch recently disputed reports that their daughter has amnesia. They also said that no one had told them to remain silent, but they were not supposed to talk about certain questions. (Allison Barker, AP, Newsday.com, May 29) If the amnesia story was not true, who was responsible for it? Were ?gag rules? imposed on the family, doctors, and/or military personnel close to the situation in Iraq? If so, why?


Isolation


8. Several news accounts have reported that Jessica Lynch is being kept under guard and in isolation, even from fellow hospital patients who might give her encouragement during her painful recovery. Pfc. Lynch should be protected from unwanted intruders, but what is the purpose of the extraordinary isolation and security arrangements surrounding her?


9. Many news organizations reported that the Iraqi lawyer Mohammed witnessed a physical assault on Lynch at the Saddam Hussein General hospital. When doctors there said that they were preparing to amputate her leg, Mohammed decided to put his own life at risk to help save hers. Pfc. Lynch was reportedly suffering from infection and fever, due to bone fragments piercing her skin, which might have killed her had she not been rescued. (DefendAmerica.mil, Marine Combat HQ, Iraq, April 3)

Are these accounts accurate or not? What have American eyewitnesses other than Pfc. Lynch said about her treatment in the Hussein hospital?


10. At least one journalist sought access to enlisted women like those who were ambushed in the ill-fated support unit in Iraq. Public affairs officials denied that request, and allowed the reporter to interview only female pilots on camera. Most enlisted women, who outnumber female officers by more than five to one, are known to oppose mandatory assignments in combat units on the same basis as men.

What is the purpose of what appears to be unusually restrictive management of news regarding enlisted women in combat?

11. Unlike other servicemen and women who have been allowed to speak freely about their experiences in Iraq, personnel who were involved in the March 23 ambush and subsequent rescue have been limited in discussions of their specific role in those operations. The families of those who died as a result of war crimes have a right to know the circumstances of their deaths. Those who survived or performed heroically during the rescue as well as the ambush also deserve recognition and the opportunity to tell their stories in detail. One serviceman fears for his career because he identified himself as a member of the April 1 rescue team.

What is the purpose of the unusual secrecy surrounding persons involved in the perilous ambush of the 507th Maintenance Unit, and the life-saving rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch?

12. The family of Spec. Shoshana Johnson said that she had joined the Army to learn cooking skills in a support unit, adding that she had never expected to wind up in a unit exposed to combat violence and capture in the early days of a full-scale war. The situation probably would not have happened were it not for Defense Department rules ordered by the Clinton Administration in 1994, which now require women to serve in support units involving a ?substantial risk of capture.? Are recruiters informing young female prospects that they could be assigned in or near previously all-male units that involve a substantial and unequal risk of combat violence and capture in a future war?


If Defense Department officials cannot bring themselves to tell young women that the rules and their ?conditions of employment? have changed, perhaps they should reconsider and revise current policies on women in combat.

The Washington Post described Pfc. Jessica Lynch as ?blond and waiflike.? Thousands of young men, who could have taken her place, would probably volunteer to serve in the military if President George W. Bush issued such a call.

Instead, the armed forces are spending extra time and money recruiting unusually large numbers of ?waiflike? women and single mothers to fight our nation?s wars. The ultimate, most important question is, Why?



Elaine Donnelly is president of the Center for Military Readiness. The Center's web site it at http://www.cmrlink.org.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...8/162538.shtml


Sempers,

Roger

[Keith_Hixson]

I don't believe that anyone put those young men and women purposely in a combat position. However, when you join the Army there is always a chance you'll be put in harms way, whether planned or not planned. I heard a report that their batteries were running low and they couldn't keep radio contact. That is just a bunch of bologna!! Generators on trucks work keeping batteries charged up! It is my belief that the Military is like a lot of us. We just don't want to admit we make mistakes! My best guess is that someone in charge didn't know how to read a gps! So we make excuses rather than saying, "I blew it." Someone messed up big time and they are covering up for that individual. But, stuff like this happens in the confusion of war.

Keith

[MORTARDUDE]

War by its very nature is contrary to all the "good" inherent laws of human nature..It is endemic to chaos and lends itself to the unpredictable and bizarre..any attempt to apply "rules" or "laws" to it as in the world of business or finance are ludicrous. If you fight a war you have to go all out to win..Period. In the process any and all things WILL happen..

Larry

DEO VINDICE

[David]

Good point Keith. We ended up in the middle of a mine field and had to back the convoy out during one of our road marches in Iraq. It all boiled down to poorly trained officers. Or was it officers that did not pay attention in class? I don't know which but they sure could not read a GPS or map.

Another time they tried to set us up outside of a town were the last signal crew had been sniped out of the position. It was a needless risk due to the range of our equipment and the fact that the war had not started in earnest yet. This time they did the right thing (after much prompting) and had us moved to a different position.

I took special pains during my time in garrison to pay attention to combat, medical, and naviagtion skills. Having grown up in a military family I had no doubt we could eventually deploy. I say special pains because many around me thought it was humorous I should pay attention to such things when we were in signal and moked my efforts. I watched many of those same people later praying to gods they did not know in foxholes and breaking down mentally in the field. I think there is a pervasive mind set in non combat units to under-train skills outside of their specialty leading to incidents such as the one involving the 507th.

[Seascamp]

The saga of Jessica Lynch is still shrouded in mystery a bit and I believe you have the roots of it nailed, David. I find it a matter of disbelief that a military convoy on a quasi-secure military route was so intensely unprepared to be where they were and doing what they were doing. Then I find it unbelievable that they had no back up, no reaction team, no air cover, absolutely nothing when the inevitable shit hit the fan. I?m real curious about exactly what commo nets they had up and if they could holler for help at all or if they even had a qualified RTO along. From long ago I remember Marine combat units rolling along the VN coast with all kinds of commo nets up, they had whips sticking up all over the place and in the black humor of it all those whips were known as ?firing stakes?. But as well I recall some supply convoys; especially fuel tankers, along the same route with a jeep of some kind front and rear and no way to raise them or more importantly, no way to raise us if they got in trouble. We could see them well enough but if something started, which it did, all we could see was dust and smoke and not a clue as to where to lay down fire.

I got a real bad feeling that the 507th was just set out on a fool?s errand without any kind of planning, support or backup or any plan to provide backup or rescue. I hope I?m wrong on this but thus far on other sites, I?m finding all kinds of externalization, and insulting rubbish being directed toward the 507th and that isn?t right and not the whole story. What I see is a convoy gets all shot to bits, gets in a 90 minute struggle for their lives and this is supposedly was a big mystery to local or passing by combat arms units. Maybe there was some incompetence within the 507th, maybe. But the rest of it is just astounding, absolutely astounding. Jasus, we did better then this during WWI when we only had that TRF equipment and land lines.

Scamp