POW Rescued

“"A US POW has been rescued" a US official said reported by CNN. A press briefing from Qatar shortly!!”

“The General has confirmed one soldier rescued, but didn't say which one it was.”

“It's Jessica Lynch 19 yrs old according to MSNBC.”

“Great News! ... I'm just wondering if the Iraqis would split them up like that. How did we rescue just one?”

“I am glad it was her. I imagine her treatment was far worse than the men.”

“They still have that black woman that they showed on the video.

Also the US Govt kicked Geraldo Rivera out of Iraq for broadcasting specific troop movement info!”

“What the heck was that bozo thinking?”

“He had the exclusive!! What a dunce!”

“I heard he drew the Iraqis a map! Pretty surreal. Well, Maybe not... seeing as how it was Geraldo.

Peter Arnett surprised me, though. I thought someone with that much experience would have better sense.”

“Yes, I agree I watched Arnett in '91 and was impressed. The arrogance. He gave the Iraqi soldiers a spark of even more defiance. I am glad he lost his job.”

“Yes. I don't understand why someone like Geraldo would even be in Iraq, though. His level of journalistic expertise seems better suited to celebrity news, gossip, Entertainment Channel stuff... Who are they going to replace him with? Jerry Springer?

oy.”

“I don't see how you would be suprised by Arnett's actions, after being fired from his last job for completely fabricating a story about American atrocities in the Vietnam era.
As far as 91, if you'll remember, he was in Baghdad talking about how high the morale of the Iraqi military was, all the while they were fleeing Kuwait in anything with 4 wheels.”

“The former POW is 19 years old and wants to be a teacher. For some reason that kind of hits me in the gut. She could be a student in one of my high school classes.

I'm 27 and it just seems strange to me to see younger people fighting in the armed forces.

I hope we win the war fast and right and send all of these people home to their real dreams.”

“They found her in a hospital in Al Nasiriyah. She has multiple gunshot wounds. They also said it was through an intelligence tip that they found her.

Stick I didn't remember that. Thanks for the info!”

“I'm not surprised YOU're not surprised Stick man. The so-called right has been gunning for Peter Arnett since Vietnam.”

“That Jessica is a babe. No doubt Heff will be offering her a chance to pose in his magazine.”

“This is kindof interesting. Arnett addresses the mistakes he made in the "Tailwind" debacle.

The current flap and some background.”

“It was just mentioned on the news that they also found some bodies close to where they found her in the hospital. At this time they are not saying if they were American soliders or not.”

“What channel was that, Ewk?”

“it was either Foxnews or CNN, I have been switching back and forth”

“Thanks! I'm heading back downstairs to check 'em out.”

“I'm not sure I understand your post Tilt--are you saying he didn't fabricate the story about the atrocities? The "so called right" doesn't have to gun for him. He's his own worst enemy. CNN didn't just let him go because they were bored with him, and now he's managed to lose three jobs in one day only to be picked up by a tabloid. It makes no difference to me where he works, he doesn't pay my bills. It should be painfully obvious that he has no journalistic integrity.”

“At any rate, thank God they rescued her.”

“Citizens in her hometown are dancing for joy. Hoorah....”

“I try to make my mind up after doing a bit of research, not before, or in lieu of. That way, I avoid spreading rumors.

Perhaps you can point me to a primary source with knowledge that Arnett fabricated the "Tailwind" story. By all means Do Not follow that link and hear his side of the story. I know that's too much to ask.”

“I did that before I posted, Tilt. Maybe you should listen to it. Especially the part where he says he broke his own rule of reporting something he did not see. He says "I certainly didn't see nerve gas used in Laos." Is there something in that sentence that is difficult to understand?
How much research does one need to do when they hear him say that the American plan has failed, on Iraqi state TV? Show me the rumor I spread that wasn't true. Or do you know more about Arnett than the networks that fired him?”

“Suppose it was September 1944 and Arnett was a correspondent in Holland during Operation Market Garden and went on Hitler's German radio for a "courtesy" interview. Suppose he pointed out how it went so bad for the British and American paratroopers and told how many Allied lives had been lost. What do you think would have happened to him?”

“Is it a rumor that CNN fired him? Or NBC? Or MSNBC? Or Nat'l Geo. Explorer?”

“Good point Phil. I never saw any footage of Ernie Pyle on "Good Morning Third Reich" with guest host Herr Goebbels.”

“Let's try to stay on point shall we, Stickman? You said he fabricated the "Tailwind" story. If you cannot back up the accusation, just say so. It's just a

That's interesting, Phil. Are you suggesting that he should face a firing squad?

What he did was uncommonly stupid and he will no doubt pay a heavy price. I think what he did was bad enough without piling on unsubstantiated claims. All that does is weaken your own case.”

“yikes. What was that? LOL Must've accidentally hit CTRL-somethingorother.


ANYway... I was saying that, as sometimes happens, Arnett's involvement with the 'Tailwind' story has been inflated over time in certain circles without being challenged.

You heard him. It was a 'magazine' piece and he was hired as a narrator. The producer did the investigative work -- just like the producers do the investigative work for every story you see on "60 Minutes". The sources recanted their stories when the going got tough.

But like I said, isn't the truth of what he did in the current situation bad enough?”

“TT NEWS: You'll Hear It Here First”

“Yep! Your Window On The World... (got some windex?)

They said she had some gunshot injuries but they haven't said how serious they were. Maybe they're not Too serious... ?”

“The reason she was alone was because of procedure. Whenever you take enemy prisoners, you always seperate them in to different groups. You divide them into groups according to rank, sex, and military vs. civilians. The reason for this is lower ranking soldiers are more likely to talk without their leadership present. They seperate the women from the men because men are more likely to talk if they think it will keep a woman safe. I know that sounds a little sexist, but I didnt make the rules. They also seperate civilians because the military have rules they have to abide by if they become a prisoner. Civilians didnt sign anything saying they have to resist or excape by any means possible.

Just a little insight to the laws of warfare.”

“I think the reason she was alone was because she was the only one alive. They had moved the others to another place or put them in shallow graves as it was mentioned on one of the networks.

Do you really think Iraq would play by the rules of war. IMO they would torture a solider while the others watched in hopes that one would tell them to stop and tell them something.

To me there are no rules to war. You do what you have to to win. It is as simple as that. Yeah innocent people will die but they will die in any war.”

“He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.

--Robert Frost”

“Having been through what a lot of the families will go through, if I had but one wish, it would be that they all come home.”

“Amen, Chili!”

“That poor woman. I heard her arms and one leg are broken. I imagine she's been through hell and then back, and through again. I seriously doubt she'll be up for posing for Playboy Alaska. (jack@ass)”

“Alaska is a jackass.”

“C'mon boys, this is the United States of (S)Exploitation. Jessica will be all over the pages and airwaves as networks clamour for her interview. Don't doubt there will be a "Women of Operation Iraqi Titillation" issue, too.”

“Tilt, I agree that what he did was stupid and showed bad judgement, that was my whole point, and the Tailwind case establishes a pattern. Whether he was just the talking head or not, as he claims on the site you linked, he should be smarter and check the story before he delivers it. I don't care what his political views are, or what side of the political spectrum is after him, I just think that after 30 some years of reporting, he should know better. The same goes for Geraldo. I can handle the opinions and guesswork that goes on sometimes with reporting, but I don't see the point in going on the state run TV of the enemy in a time of war.

As far as the POW, I heard this morning that her family hasn't had the chance to talk to her yet. In addition to the broken bones they mentioned she may have gunshot wounds. I'd say that town in WV will go crazy when she gets home. I'd like to shake the hands of the unit that went in and got her.”

“CNN just had to interview the three ugliest and dumbest chicks they could find in that little town in WVa. Not only that but they had to interview them in front of a house that looked like it should be condemned. Being from the state it pisses me off because everytime they need info from WVa they go find a guy that lives in a converted bus and has the biggest mullet on Earth. [sigh]. CNN, you could have done better!

I'm glad to hear she is safe. I hope that the military will endeavor to retrieve all of the POW's. And while they're doing it, they should take every Iraqi soldier around the complex prisoner as a slap in the face.”

“Her dad said he thought it was some sort of April Fools joke when they notified him that she'd been rescued.”

“Same thing in Ky, WVA. I am astounded at the number of people who actually live in a converted bus. And it always seems to be near the river.”

“tilt - I think that what Arnett did was at least borderline "aiding and abeting" the enemy because it was on Iraqi TV. It could be used by them as a credible way to make their militia think that the coalition forces were losing, therefore discouraging them from surrendering and encouraging them to fight. That kills our soldiers. It wouldn't bother me to see him on trial for treason just to stir up the debate over what the definition of treason is.

Back to my WWII example. During Market Garden we didn't believe the Germans had any more fight in them and expected the last gasp any minute. What happened a few weeks later was the Battle of the Bulge...the bloodiest battle of the war and Hitler's last ditch effort to win at any cost. Anyone who unknowingly boosted the morale of the Germans thinking they were about out of gas would have been mistaken.

People in positions of influence like Arnett have a moral imperitive to assess the consequences of their actions. He may or may not be a traitor, but he is at least self-centered and stupid.”

“Same thing in Ky, WVA. I am astounded at the number of people who actually live in a converted bus. And it always seems to be near the river."
StickmanWalking
11:27:21 AM
04/02/03

WTF? You mean Tennessee doesn't have a monopoly on this?”

“What got me about Arnett was that he was proud that his reporting was changing public opinion in the US and the world, and encouraging protests. Is that his job, to change public opinion to his point of view? I wonder if his reporting included information about the civilian deaths that Saddam has caused, by terror squads or by missiles and ammo falling out of the sky?

And since when is it his duty to sway public opinion? If he went over there as political commentator, fine. For instance, if we sent Rush Limbaugh over there we know that we would be hearing some opinion in his reporting. So was Arnett like that, a political commentator, or is he trying to pass himself off as a news reporter, giving us facts from which we can form an opinion? His arrogance makes me mad.

On Geraldo, it seems to me like the news channels reveal an incredible amount of information that would be useful to our enemies. I don't know that the map Geraldo drew in the sand was any worse than the computer maps the retired generals have on TV.

I heard one reporter griping that he only had one MRE on a certain day, and saying therefore the supply chain had serious problems. What a wimp! Serious problems are when you are out of ammo, or no food for a week. Toughen up, sissy boy.”

“There are enough calories and nutrients in one MRE that one a day will sustain a combat soldier for about 10 days. If the journalists can't keep from whining, send them home.”

“lol.....Somedays all we got was a MRE and that was during peacetime and we were back in the states. MRE's can have up to 3200 calories. All you need is one. Its not exactly diet food. They put so many calories in on purpose, because of all the physical stresses. They taste pretty good. The only problem is they constipate the living hell out of you.”