SOME THINGS WE HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT THE JESSICA LYNCH RESCUE

I received an email from an unimpeachable source, someone I trust implicitly who has great contacts. He shares the following story:

"Cori:
I have just been talking with several friends of mine (Army and Marine
Corps) just back from Iraq. They took part in the Jessica Lynch rescue and
had a lot to say on the subject. I will pass along the most salient details
for your benefit so that the next time the fourth estate pontificates you
will have, at least, a 'second-hand' accounting.

Pvt Lynch was captured by the Special Security Organization (SSO) in
Nasiriyah. The Marines had passed through before the 507th Maintenance
Company did and had taken heavy causalities. It was a house-to-house fight
with the SSO putting up a fanatical and determined front. Lots of RPGs and
automatic weapons fire. When the 507th got ambushed it was the Marines that
went in initially to rescue any survivors. They found Lynch's flak jacket
and chemical warfare suit (her name was taped to the inside) and the flak
jacket was punctured and blood stained. Her chem suit was cut down the
front and likewise blood stained. These items were found in an upstairs
lavatory in a building that she was taken to shortly after being captured.
My sources tell me the place was blood splattered and it was widely believed
by the troops on the ground that Lynch had been raped and brutalized.

Once she was in the "hospital" it was a widely known fact among the local
population. "Many" reports came in to the Intel folks as to her
whereabouts. At least six locals were interviewed at length as to where she
was being held and under what conditions. The lawyer, who got a lot of the
credit, was only one of these folks and, according to my source, played only
a minor role. The Marines of Task Force Tarawa did not conduct many of
these interviews but left it up to the Special Operators [who] were along
with them.

Once it was established where Lynch was an operation was mounted
and launched. After she was taken out of the building the Marines then
occupied it and found a number of light infantry weapons inside. This
"hospital" also was a headquarters for the local Baath party and a military
command and control center as well as a field interrogation center. There
was a lot of military equipment in the place along with light weapons (AK's,
AKM's, and RPK's), radios, web gear, sand tables, etc. So this rescue
mission was to also locate and capture any high ranking Iraqis, and find any
weapons of mass destruction that might be stored in the building.

Much has been made of the fact that no fire was received by the rescue
force. Fair enough, but, the area had been prepped by an AC-130 and both
the rangers (from both 1st and 2nd Battalions) and the Marines took
casualties during the prep phase. Thus, when the actual assault on the
building took place the bad guys had cleared off . . . To be frank, if a AC-130 showed up near me I would take off
too! A very scary thing to have one of those overhead. [Here my source recommends I speak with a mutual friend about the capabilities of this aircraft. Since you don't have access to our friend, I will send you here.] I think you will be
impressed and see why the SSO took off.

This isn't much but I do have it on good authority."


I find all of this quite interesting, particularly given that a great deal has been made about how the Iraqi doctors and nurses were quite kind to Lynch, and therefore the American forces need not have gone in with great force. The press has not seemed to be interested enough, it seems to me, in who else was in the building that housed that hospital, or in what happened in the rescue mission as an entire operation, focusing far too much on the fact that no fire was exchanged inside the building.