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| Iraq |
| Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, Hero |
| 2003-11-13 |
| The Iraqi lawyer who led Marines to Jessica Lynch tells his story. by Erin Montgomery The Weekly Standard EFL THE RECENT FLURRY of media attention surrounding Jessica Lynch--the NBC movie "Saving Jessica Lynch" aired this past Sunday and the former POW’s "Primetime" interview with Diane Sawyer aired Tuesday—has many viewers wondering what really happened in the days leading up to April 1, 2003, when a U.S. Special Operations team rescued the 19-year-old supply clerk from Saddam Hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, the 33-year-old Iraqi attorney responsible for informing the Marines of Lynch’s whereabouts, recounted his story to an audience of reporters at a National Press Club conference Monday afternoon. Dressed in a handsome olive suit, with an American flag pin shining on his left lapel, al-Rehaief began his speech humbly: "I know my English is broken, but I hope you enjoy my story." And what a story it is. Al-Rehaief’s life changed on March 23, the day Lynch’s Army convoy was ambushed. Some of the surviving convoy members were brought to the local Baath party headquarters near al-Rehaief’s home for processing. Al-Rehaief saw the surviving POWs beaten by a crowd and later that day saw the dead bodies of several members of the convoy paraded in a roundabout a block from his house. Pfc. Lori Piestewa, who’d been driving the Humvee in which Jessica Lynch had been a passenger, was among the dead. On March 26, a refugee who’d witnessed the actual convoy attack told al-Rehaief he had seen a soldier (determined later to be Lynch) being pulled from the Humvee and stomped upon. The next day, al-Rehaief went to visit his wife at Saddam Hospital, where she worked as a nurse. He learned from her that a POW was being held in the cardiac unit and later, from his sister-in-law (a doctor at the hospital) that this POW was a woman. After sneaking into the unit, al-Rehaief saw, through a glass panel, a young woman being interrogated and slapped by a fedayeen officer. The fedayeen, the glorious Iraqi resistance, here seen scrupulously observing the Geneva Convention. (NOT!) "She’s a young lady, a child of God," al-Rehaief said on Monday, as he emotionally recalled seeing Lynch laying helpless in the hospital bed being slapped by her captors. "I have a daughter myself," he said. That sight was enough to make al-Rehaief risk his life and that of his wife and daughter to pay a visit to the Marines. . . . Go read all of it. Mr. al-Rehaief has been granted asylum in the U.S.; I, for one, an happy to welcome him as a fellow citizen. He’s an amazing example of the decency that can arise even from those living in the worst of tyrranies. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #4 I smell extortion. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-11-13 9:03:40 PM |
| #3 Charles: You hit on the key point, but misinterpreted it... Larry Flynt says he has pictures of her nekkid, but out of the "goodness of his heart" he's not going to publish them because she's being used by the Bush admin & the army. Since she's not Pam Anderson and doesn't want the pictures to come out, she doesn't have much choice but to say she feels exploited. It's not even a subtle threat if you assume that Flynt's a complete sleazebag... |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-11-13 12:28:33 PM |
| #2 Swiggles, it might also be the fault of Jessica herself. She should know what was written about her ordeal in the book. To not only contradict it on TV, but also to blame the Government for exploiting her is alarming to me. And she did say the Government exploited her. She also that the tape of her rescue was wrong. Add in Larry Flynt saying he has, but won't publish, nude photos of Lynch and in the very next sentence scolding the Bush administration for exploiting Lynch and what do you get? ( Alomst forgot to add in the 'video' circulating the internet. ) I'm sorry for even thinking this, but I'm starting to wonder if Lynch isn't using her ordeal for Left-wing propoganda. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-11-13 11:44:58 AM |
| #1 This story becomes more and more confused. Ms Lynch's authorized biography claims she doesn't remember anything. Her interview claims she does. The media claims the Pentagon hyped the story, which is a load of shit. The military never said there was a fight at the hospital. And the video they released clearly does NOT show any combat. The only fighting the military claimed took place in reference to this operation was a diversionary action by the marines. So how is the military hyping it? Not at all. I don't want to belittle her ordeal, but how is she a hero??? Just because she's not dead? What about the others of her group taken captive? Is Shashawna (sp) Johnson getting all of this attention? How about an offer of a free ride to college? This whole thing stinks to high heaven, obviously somebody is lying. Who? Personally I am starting to get the feeling that the media is the culprit. Shocking I know. I think they tried to spin her in to a 'super-heroine' and now that the story is falling apart, they are blaming the government. And poor Jessica is caught in the middle of it. I'm just sick of hearing about it. Well, whatever the true story is, I wish her well. |
| Posted by: Swiggles 2003-11-13 11:20:03 AM |