Private First Class Jessica Lynch was a member of the Army’s 507th Maintenance Company during the invasion of Iraq. After missing a turn due to mechanical problems holding her convoy up, Private Lynch headed into Iraqi territory. The Iraqi forces attacked the group, and Private Lynch was badly injured when her vehicle crashed into another. Private Lynch was taken to two hospitals by the Iraqi forces and her life-threatening wounds were treated by the staff; all the while, Marines in the area are finding out about the Iraqi forces capturing her and taking her to a hospital that was being used as an Iraqi operations center. After a week in the hospital, Private Lynch was rescued by a U.S. special forces unit in what appeared to be an amazing and heroic rescue.
However, the dissemination of information that followed did not add up. The Washington Post, for example, first printed “Missing Soldier Rescued; U.S. Forces Remove POW From Hospital” the day Private Lynch was rescued. This story, printed April 2, 2003, made no mention of Private Lynch performing any heroic actions. The next day, The Post released a much different (cover) story titled “She Was Fighting to the Death” – which is an interesting title, when in the article from the day before, CENTCOM’s (U.S. Central Command) spokesman Jim Wilkinson was quoted saying, “[s]he’s safe in coalition hands and happier than where she was.” An anonymous “official” was a major source of information in this article, providing half-formed details. The “one official” the article quoted said that Private Lynch “was fighting to the death” at the time of her capture and that she was stabbed by Iraqi forces (though there was no reason to believe her stab wounds were “life-threatening”).
The initial report on Private Lynch’s capture was correct. The stories that followed, however, were fictional. On June 17, 2003, the Post published that Private Lynch never had any physical contact with Iraqi forces, had no gun shot wounds, and was rescued without little resistance. They claimed that there original (and false) source’s information was leaked to the press before being verified.
Jessica Lynch’s capture is gray propaganda that is about two shades away from being black propaganda. The “one official” source that the Washington Post relied on for majority of their facts was not identified and therefore cannot be considered credible. The Post, whether they were going along with a media stunt orchestrated by the government or not, was spreading lies and fabrications about the true events of Private Lynch’s capture.
However, the dissemination of information that followed did not add up. The Washington Post, for example, first printed “Missing Soldier Rescued; U.S. Forces Remove POW From Hospital” the day Private Lynch was rescued. This story, printed April 2, 2003, made no mention of Private Lynch performing any heroic actions. The next day, The Post released a much different (cover) story titled “She Was Fighting to the Death” – which is an interesting title, when in the article from the day before, CENTCOM’s (U.S. Central Command) spokesman Jim Wilkinson was quoted saying, “[s]he’s safe in coalition hands and happier than where she was.” An anonymous “official” was a major source of information in this article, providing half-formed details. The “one official” the article quoted said that Private Lynch “was fighting to the death” at the time of her capture and that she was stabbed by Iraqi forces (though there was no reason to believe her stab wounds were “life-threatening”).
The initial report on Private Lynch’s capture was correct. The stories that followed, however, were fictional. On June 17, 2003, the Post published that Private Lynch never had any physical contact with Iraqi forces, had no gun shot wounds, and was rescued without little resistance. They claimed that there original (and false) source’s information was leaked to the press before being verified.
Jessica Lynch’s capture is gray propaganda that is about two shades away from being black propaganda. The “one official” source that the Washington Post relied on for majority of their facts was not identified and therefore cannot be considered credible. The Post, whether they were going along with a media stunt orchestrated by the government or not, was spreading lies and fabrications about the true events of Private Lynch’s capture.