Quote:
Originally posted by Tall Guy
are there any links to a news story about this staging?
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I don't know where the original poster got their news from, but there was a BBC programme on this subject shown last Sunday. Quite interesting, really. There's a digest of what it was all about here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...nt/3028585.stm
In case you can't be bothered reading it: no, it doesn't suggest that the Americans "asked the Iraqi guards to hold her a few days longer", but it does suggest the operation was staged for purely propaganda reasons. That much seems fairly obvious - why else take a camera team along? - but the report also suggests that Lynch didn't really need rescuing, since there was nobody but doctors to rescue her from.
The other, more interesting part of the programme, which rang more true than the Jessica Lynch part anyway, just talked about the extent to which propaganda played a part in the war coverage. From embedded journalists to the daily 'freedom briefings' (from which one reporter was ejected after asking "what's the point of us being here?" to much applause), they were intricately designed to promote the American side. I think Darth-Eggplant has the right idea - stay away from TV coverage at all costs!