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I thought it was time to let some light shine on the triumphs of humanity, like this story.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/911282.asp?0cl=cR
Besides the fact that they keep referring to his upcoming book (probably movie, too) which I could do without, this is pretty cool. :D
peace
This guy is awesome, that just goes to show you, that you can't suppress kindness. I think all the offers and money gifts this guy is receiving are terrific. More power to him. :thumbsup:
There are always good people out there. I think that this is a great story to kind of through people out of their "hate" mode and show that everybody needs to get along better and put thier differences aside.
I'm immpressed. I wouldn't think an iraq would risk his life for the people who were bombing him. Nice dude.
Well Ishbar, we werent targeting civilians, just the leadership. :p
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...885447152.htmlQuote:
Nine of her comrades were killed. Iraqi soldiers took Lynch to a hospital, which was swarming with fedayeen, where she was held for eight days. That much is uncontested.
Releasing its five-minute film to the networks, the Pentagon claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated. It was only thanks to a courageous Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, that she was saved. According to the Pentagon, al-Rehaief risked his life to alert the Americans that Lynch was being held.
Just after midnight, Army Rangers and Navy Seals stormed the Nassiriya hospital. Their "daring" assault on enemy territory was captured by the military's night-vision camera. They were said to have come under fire, but they made it to Lynch and whisked her away by helicopter. That was the message beamed back to viewers within hours of the rescue.
Al-Rehaief was granted asylum barely two weeks after arriving in the US. He is now the toast of Washington, with a $500,000 book deal. Rescue in Nassiriya will be published in October. As for Lynch, her status as cult hero is stronger than ever. Internet auction sites have listed at least 10 Jessica Lynch items, ranging from an oil painting with an opening bid of $200 to a $5 "America Loves Jessica Lynch" fridge magnet. Trouble is that doctors now say she has no recollection of the episode and probably never will. Her memory loss means that "researchers" have been called in to fill in the gaps.
One story, two versions. The doctors in Nassiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for Lynch in the midst of war. She was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital, and one of only two nurses on the floor. "I was like a mother to her and she was like a daughter,"says Khalida Shinah.
"We gave her three bottles of blood, two of them from the medical staff because there was no blood at this time,"said Dr Harith al-Houssona, who looked after her throughout her ordeal. "I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle. Then I did another examination. There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only RTA, road traffic accident," he recalled. "They want to distort the picture. I don't know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury."
The doctors said that the day before the special forces swooped on the hospital the Iraqi military had fled. Hassam Hamoud, a waiter at a local restaurant, said he saw the American advance party land in the town. He said the team's Arabic interpreter asked him where the hospital was. "He asked: 'Are there any fedayeen over there?' and I said, 'No."' All the same, the next day "America's finest warriors" descended on the building.
"We heard the noise of helicopters," says Dr Anmar Uday. He says that they must have known there would be no resistance. "We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital.
"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried, 'Go, go, go', with guns and blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show - an action movie like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan, with jumping and shouting, breaking down doors." All the time with the camera rolling. The Americans took no chances, restraining doctors and a patient who was handcuffed to a bed frame.
There was one more twist. Two days before the snatch squad arrived, Al-Houssona had arranged to deliver Jessica (pictured left) to the Americans in an ambulance. "I told her I will try and help you escape to the American army but I will do this very secretly because I could lose my life." He put her in an ambulance and instructed the driver to go to the American checkpoint. When he was approaching it, the Americans opened fire. They fled just in time back to the hospital. The Americans had almost killed their prize catch.
A military cameraman had shot footage of the rescue. It was a race against time for the video to be edited. The video presentation was ready a few hours after the first brief announcement. When it was shown, General Vincent Brooks, the US spokesman in Doha, declared: "Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade."
None of the details that the doctors provided Correspondent with made it to the video or to any subsequent explanations or clarifications by US authorities. A Pentagon spokesman in Washington, Bryan Whitman, declined to release the full tape of the rescue, rather than its edited version. He would not talk about what kind of Iraqi resistance the American forces faced. Nor would he comment on the injuries Lynch actually sustained. "I understand there is some conflicting information out there and in due time the full story will be told, I'm sure," he said.
Ironic that the true hero of this entire sequence of events will never be given the recognition he deserves. IMHO, I think something funny is going on with Mr. al Rehaief - these accolades seem a little much considering a) there's a decent chance that he didn't actually aid in her rescue and b) even if he did, the awards/benefits that have been awarded him are numerous beyond measure, and seem a little disproportionate with his deed.
I think a dog somewhere just got wagged by its tail. :D
Gotta love the idiot conspiract theorists. The only thing worse than conspiracy theorists are the morons who believe everything they read from those utter fools.
What in the hell makes you think that you are the only person on the planet that know s the truth? Oh wait, I actually gave you credit for thinking, so sorry, that won't happen again.
Disproportionate? You obviously you aren't a parent, nor do you have a family that you care about.... disproportionate, my ass. The man who would save my children from death should be given anything they want or, moreover anything I have to give. My kid's mean more to me than anything. You've got your head on backwards.
P.S. I'm sorry for the insults but here's a toast to making this thread go downhill, powerwhatever. :p
Quote:
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 4, 2003; Page A01
MARINE COMBAT HEADQUARTERS, Iraq, April 3 -- Mohammed, a gregarious 32-year-old Iraqi lawyer, went by the hospital in Nasiriyah one day last week to visit his wife, who worked there as a nurse, when he noticed the ominous presence of security agents.
Curious, he asked around, and a doctor friend told him an American soldier was being held there. Something made him want to go see. The doctor took him to a first-floor emergency wing where he pointed out the soldier through a glass interior window -- a young woman lying in a bed, bandaged and covered in a white blanket.
Inside the room with her was an imposing Iraqi man, clad all in black. Mohammed watched as the man slapped the American woman with his open palm, then again with the back of his hand. In that instant, Mohammed recalled today, he resolved to do something. The next day, when the man in black was not around, Mohammed sneaked in to see the young woman.
"Don't worry, don't worry," he told her. He was going to help.
As he recounted the events today, that decision set in motion one of the most dramatic moments in the first two weeks of the war in Iraq. Five days after Mohammed located U.S. Marines and told them what he knew, Black Hawk helicopters swooped in under cover of darkness, touching down next to the six-story hospital, and a team of heavily-armed commandos stormed the building. With hand-scrawled maps from Mohammed and his wife, the commandos quickly found the injured Pfc. Jessica Lynch and spirited her away to safety.
Mohammed said he decided to save the 19-year-old soldier because he could not bear to see her beaten in the hospital. "My heart is cut," he recalled of his reaction when he saw her. "I decided to go to the Americans and tell them about this story."
Mohammed and his family were flown to this crude desert camp by helicopter today to stay the night before being taken to a refugee center in the southern port city of Umm Qasr. They were allowed to clean up in a makeshift "shower" fashioned out of a giant cardboard box and then given clothes to wear -- an MTV shirt for Mohammed's wife, Iman, and an oversized military T-shirt for his 6-year-old daughter. When Mohammed mentioned that he would love an American flag, the Marines rushed to find one.
"He's sort of an inspiration to all of us," said Lt. Col. Rick Long, who hosted the family in his trailer for a dinner of Meals Ready to Eat tonight.
If not for his help, the Marines said, they might never have been able to rescue Lynch. "The information was dead-on," said Col. Bill Durrett, who was helping process their refugee status to keep them safe from reprisals.
Lynch was part of a convoy from the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company that made a wrong turn at the city of Nasiriyah on the banks of the Euphrates River on March 23 when it was ambushed by Iraqi paramilitary fighters. The U.S. invasion force was being attacked by Saddam's Fedayeen, a militia formed by President Saddam Hussein's son Uday.
Several of the soldiers were killed in the attack, and Lynch returned fire, according to the account given by U.S. officials. Lynch's family said today that she was not shot or stabbed, as early intelligence reports had indicated. Five soldiers were captured in the attack, while seven are still listed as missing in action.
In a German hospital, Lynch underwent back surgery today to repair a fracture that was pinching a nerve. She is suffering two broken legs and a broken arm. She spoke by telephone with her parents in Palestine, W. Va.
Mohammed, whose last name is being withheld at the request of the Marines, set off the chain of events that led to Lynch's rescue. Mohammed was born in Najaf, a holy city to Shiite Muslims like him. He displays an easy smile and is quick to say "welcome." He studied law and a little English in Basra in southeastern Iraq and became an attorney. He and his wife did what they could to make a decent life for themselves and their daughter; they had a house and a Russian-made car. But, as Mohammed told it, they longed for the day Hussein would fall.
So when he saw some Fedayeen in the hospital, he concluded they were up to no good. He said he knew some of them personally. Asked about them, he simply shook his head. "Very bad," he said, switching back and forth from English to Arabic. "Very, very, very, very bad. There's no kindness in my heart for them." Mohammed recalled that, after the war began, he watched them drag a dead woman's body through the street, apparently killed because she waved at a U.S. helicopter.
The same day he saw Lynch through the glass window, he said in an account vouched for by the Marines, Mohammed set out by foot to find the Americans. The Marines had been trying to secure a route on the eastern side of Nasiriyah to keep critical supply convoys flowing over a pair of bridges that took them across the Euphrates. Mohammed said he walked six miles out of the town center before he came across some Marines.
He said he approached them with his hands raised.
"What do you want?" a Marine asked.
"I have important information about woman soldier in hospital," he replied.
Mohammed was taking a chance, not only in defying Iraqi authorities but in approaching the Marines. Saddam's Fedayeen and their allies had been dressing in civilian clothes to get close to U.S. troops, sometimes even faking surrender, only to open fire at short range. U.S. troops have also fired on civilians at checkpoints.
But with the mention of a woman soldier, Mohammed got the Marines' attention, and he was quickly ushered in to talk with officers who began grilling him about the hospital and the soldier inside. At the same time, Mohammed instructed his wife to go stay with their family -- and none too soon. That night, friends told him later, the Fedayeen showed up at his house and ransacked the place, searching for something.
It was not enough to simply tell the Americans that one of their own was at Saddam Hospital. Twice over the next two days, he said, they sent him back to the hospital to gather more information. Just to get to the hospital was perilous, he said, because of the U.S. bombs that seemed to be falling all around Nasiriyah. Once in the hospital, he had to make sure he was not spotted by anyone who would inform on him to the Fedayeen.
As he skulked around, he counted the number of Fedayeen at the hospital, until he came to 41. He noted that four guards in civilian clothes stood watch at Lynch's first-floor room armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and radios. He traced routes through the building that commandos could use. He tried to learn what he could about the operations center they set up at the hospital on the first day of the war.
During his first return trip to the hospital, he learned the Iraqis were talking about amputating her leg, which had been injured during or after the attack. Mohammed said he urged his doctor friend to stop the amputation. He slipped in to see Lynch and reassured her, he said, though she mistook him for a doctor.
"A person is a human being regardless of nationality," he explained today. "Believe me, I love Americans."
After returning to the Marine base, he drew out five maps by hand, and his wife, who was brought there, drew one, too. The military planners took the scraps of paper and got to work.
In the end, a Special Operations force of Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and Air Force personnel swooped in early Wednesday morning, while Marines staged a fake offensive elsewhere around Nasiriyah to distract attention of the Fedayeen and their allies. It was one of the few times an American prisoner of war has been successfully rescued in the last half century.
Mohammed has given up the life he knew to help a woman he met only briefly. He and his family came to this Marine base with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and a blanket. But Mohammed smiled broadly and happily talked about his role. He expressed no doubts about his decision.
"She would not have lived," he said simply. "It was very important."
He knew the risks, he said. "I am afraid not for me. I am afraid about my daughter and my wife," he said, turning to them sitting quietly next to him. "Because I love much."
Mohammed wants to work with the Americans some more, maybe help them gather information elsewhere in Iraq. His wife could help treat injured soldiers, he offered. Maybe he will go to America. But eventually, he said, he wants to return home.
"In the future when Saddam Hussein is down," he said, "I will go back to Nasiriyah." He said he would not worry then about the Fedayeen. "When Saddam Hussein goes down, I'm sure they will go away."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
I'm pretty sure this is how it all went down.
:p
First up, this isn't a 'conspiracy theory', it's not from some hippie newsletter, it's from one of the bigger papers in Australia (The Age) quoted directly from the Guardian. I'm not a complete dickhead, I don't think it's 'just me' who 'knows what's going on'. If you'd bothered reading the article you would have realised this, and that the article merely says that there are conflicting stories in relation to how these events actually occurred. The article proper was about the differences between the British media and the American media, and I think it raised some interesting points. I personally do not believe that it is merely coincidence that Lynch has experienced amnesia, that the Pentagon will not release the unedited video, and that other Iraqis have differing views on what actually happened.Quote:
Gotta love the idiot conspiract theorists. The only thing worse than conspiracy theorists are the morons who believe everything they read from those utter fools.
What in the hell makes you think that you are the only person on the planet that know s the truth? Oh wait, I actually gave you credit for thinking, so sorry, that won't happen again.
Trust you to say something like 'you obviously don't have a family you care about'. Of course I do, and that statement was completely unnecessary. I just believe this story is a giant PR stunt. The whole thing is so media friendly it's absurd. He sure did manage to get to Lynch pretty easily considering all the Fedayen armed with AK-47s (what legitimate reason did he have to talk to Lynch in the first place that would convince the guards?). And I do believe that a book/film deal is a bit much (that's mainly what I was talking about).Quote:
Disproportionate? You obviously you aren't a parent, nor do you have a family that you care about.... disproportionate, my ass. The man who would save my children from death should be given anything they want or, moreover anything I have to give. My kid's mean more to me than anything. You've got your head on backwards.
P.S. I'm sorry for the insults but here's a toast to making this thread go downhill, powerwhatever.
Let the Pentagon release the full unedited video of the assault on the hospital is all I can say. Can't see that happening personally, and until it does the events that have taken place are too open to speculation (amnesia seems awfully convenient IMHO).
Cheers. And sorry for the insults. :thumbsup:
Let me just point out my oh, so, enlightened one. Conspiracy theorists hold real jobs too. They do actually work for all sorts of rags, including but not limited to rags in Australia and the U.S. Now I could try to reason with you and show you the way, but I'm not inclined to assist you in any way given your last tirade. You've proven your utter disregard for a rational communique and therefore have rendered yourself impotent in my eyes and many of the people who read these threads. So enjoy your insult slinging and have a wonderful life.
P.S. Thanks again for ruining my thread.
Two months after the 'rescue', it turns out to be one big lie.
The Washington Post was the first newspaper to bring the detailed story of Lynch's 'capture' and 'rescue'. The paper wrote that Jessica had fought bravely after her unit was ambushed by Iraqi units. She killed several enemies, got stabbed and shot at herself, but didn't want to give up... This Washington Post-story was picked up by newspapers around the world. This week, the Post published another story... They admitted they lied... This time, the Post wasn't first. The BBC already revealed that the Lynch-story was a propaganda-myth...
, the BBC concludes, polite as ever.Quote:
The programme said the story of her rescue was "one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived"
The Washington Post-investigation admits that... "Our original story smelled like propaganda", Michael Getler (ombudsman for the Post) said...
Now... what did really happen...
On March 23, the fourth day of the war, Lynch and her unit entered Nasiriya, a town still under Iraqi control. All troops had been ordered to avoid Nasiriya, but someone forgot to warn Lynch's unit. They got lost and the vehicle got shot at by the Iraqi's. They immediately turned around, but hit an American truck. Three soldiers immediately died, Lynch and another soldier got seriously hurt. Jessica didn't fire one single shot. She wasn't shot at either.
Jessica was unconscious. She probably would have died if Iraqi soldiers wouldn't have brought her to the Nasiriya military hospital. The other wounded soldiers died shortly after arriving at that hospital. Lynch had a head-wound and had broken both arms and legs.
She was given a blood-transfusion and went under surgery. After that, she was brought to the public hospital in Nasiriya, a hospital with only a few doctors and nurses... every day, more than 200 wounded people were brought in. Despite the lack of rooms and personnel, Jessica got her own room and two nurses taking care of her 24/7. American media wrote that she was refused any treatment by the Iraqi's... the BBC now says that she was given the best treatment in the entire hospital. "We knew the Americans would come after her", surgeon Mahdi Khafaji told the Washington Post, "we wanted to show them that we, too, are human".
The story about the mistreatment of Jessica was launched by Mohammed Rehaief, an Iraqi lawyer who claimed to have seen it personally. Rehaief said he was in the hospital because his wife Iman worked there as a nurse. There was no Iman working at that hospital...
Rehaief and his family were given asylum in the US, a job at the military industry-lobby, and a HarperCollins book-contract worth 500k.
HarperCollins is owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News and The New York Post were (partly) responsible for transforming Jessica Lynch into a myth.
Eight days later, Jessica was 'liberated'. Before that happened, Iraqi soldiers had cleared the area surrounding the hospital. The hospital had informed the American two days earlier that they wanted to hand Jessica over to them... A first attempt was even made, but when the ambulance with Jessica in it reached the American check-point, they were shot at...
Why? Task Force 20 was already preparing the 'liberation', and it was meant to be 'spectacular'. Spectacular, it was... We all saw the footage... But was it necessary, too? Not at all...
And Korp... this is not about Jessica... this is about the media ****ing up.... over and over again... this is about the American government lying... over and over again...
But don't worry... soon, Hollywood will release a movie about Jessica's 'liberation'... I wonder if they'll add the 'Based on true facts'... :/
And I thought the antiwar people were supposed to be the naive ones.
It's always a pain when the truth gets in the way of a nice feel good story/thread. :thumbsup:
So the media lied...I'm not surprised. So the U.S. gov't lied....still not surprised. I'm not naive...the European media was reporting the very same story, weren't they? Yes. They were. I never said the U.S. gov't was perfect, did I? No. Sue me.
So the media can be manipulated by a gov't, still you have not proven a thing. The war was just, and you can't take it.
Information warfare, ever heard of it? Too bad they chose her. Too bad they chose such a subject.
The truth didn't get in the way, powertoad5000. The U.S. gov't did. But keep up the vigilance, you'll make us all proud. :thumbsup:
Merde. Should I even post in this pointless discussion. Oh well, what <shocking> revelations, the media (trusted barons of truth) and the some governments (highly regarded by all) have possibly misled the public? Mais non, it cannot be!
Odd how ppl are so surprised by all this.
To post or not to post, that is the question...
From the beginning, this story was a little far fetched to me. Just a little too easy, a little too convenient. BUT...suddenly we're faced with another story JUST as easy and convenient about what saints the iraqi's were. About how the Americans were SOOOO stupid, they shot at an ambulance. Could have happened, in retrospect, considering the number of civilians they killed "accidentally" at checkpoints. But you can't deny the bodies buried in a mass grave on the hospital grounds. And...just as another little idea...it IS possible that out of fear of retaliation from the Iraqi govt, which I think we will all agree regardless of our position on whether the war was right or wrong was a bit "harsh" on those who opposed them, they just might not be using their real names.
I think if you put the two stories together and sifted out all the BS, you might come up with what really happened. I'm sure it's in there somewhere...once you sift out all the propoganda on both sides.
And to think the FCC removed regulations that kept the newsmedia from monopolizing markets. I'm sure that we'll get unbiased, truthful reporting with that change.
.
Mark this thread folks..we have a conservative admiting bush and his cronies lied. This was the man who would bring dignaty back to the office? I demand impeachemnt now, lieing about events in a war (and risking US lives with that lie) is far worse then lieing about a bj.Quote:
Originally posted here by KorpDeath
So the media lied...I'm not surprised. So the U.S. gov't lied....still not surprised.
:)
The whole reason they gave her the best treatment in the hospital was because she was being used as a human shield, that's why all the Iraqi troops were there. It's not like they did it out of the goodness of their hearts.Quote:
BUT...suddenly we're faced with another story JUST as easy and convenient about what saints the iraqi's were.
You're so far from correct on two counts... I'm not a conservative, nor do I care much for Bush (as I've already stated). And the president didn't break the story "oh righteous one".Quote:
Originally posted here by bballad
Mark this thread folks..we have a conservative admiting bush and his cronies lied. This was the man who would bring dignaty back to the office? I demand impeachemnt now, lieing about events in a war (and risking US lives with that lie) is far worse then lieing about a bj.
:)