And If All Others Accepted The Lie….
….which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. (George Orwell, 1984, Chapter 3). It’s a line I’ve quoted in the past when discussing different pieces of official propaganda, and it’s appropriate for discussing the continuing saga of Jessica Lynch.
I’m sure you all remember Jessica Lynch, the US soldier who fought bravely to her last bullet but was ultimately captured by evil Iraqi insurgents, used, abused, and tortured…. all while stoically suffering near mortal wounds in uncivilized conditions? An American hero for the day. Just in case you don’t here’s the discussion we had in the bunker back in November of 2003.
History continues to be written on a regular basis as far as the Iraq war goes, and Jessica has been hauled back into the news.
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Former POW Jessica Lynch became a mother on Friday, giving birth to a girl whom she named in honor of a fallen comrade.
[.....]
The story of her capture and dramatic nighttime rescue made her an instant celebrity.
Daring nighttime rescue? If you recall the actual facts of the incident the rescue was necessary because when the Iraqis tried to give her back to the Americans after they had treated her wounds and looked after her they were shot at.
Do you also remember the various stories put out by the military and hyped by members of the Bush administration and the (Right)WingNuts?
Initial U.S. military/media reports had Lynch fighting until the last round and suffering both knife and bullet wounds in a heroic defense…… it later came out that her rifle had jammed, she never got off a shot, and was never shot.
Initial U.S. military/media reports had Lynch suffering stoically without decent medical care…… it later came out that she had received as good medical care as was possible under the circumstances.
Do you recall what Jessica Lynch herself said about the propaganda?
“They used me to symbolize all this stuff. It’s wrong. I don’t know why they filmed it, or why they say these things.â€
Lets see how long it takes for Bush, or some member of his administration, to mention this, and the words that get used if it does.
Beware the official propaganda folks, they lie.
I saw an interview with her, away back when. Maybe even on Oprah. She was pretty annoyed that she was being made to look like a liar by the propoganda machine; she’d been sent into debriefing and all that, and when she came out she was this crazy war hero and didn’t recognize her own story. She was being VERY careful with her criticisms, but they were there. Wag the dog, indeed.
Well, stageleft, there’s life. And then there’s American life. Surely I don’t have to tell you the difference? You see, one is a statistic in the Baghdad morgues, and one becomes made into TV movies.
A couple of Americans die in Mogadishu and they make a movie. Note at the end of the movie, 50 Somalians to every 1 American died. It’s a small print footnote next to the big news: AMERICANS DIED! Everybody cry now.