Military Analyst Says Media, Feminists Punishing Pvt. Lynch For Being Honest
by Chad Groening
November 24, 2003
(AgapePress) - A military pundit believes feminists and the mainstream media are turning against U.S. Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch for telling the truth about her much-publicized capture and rescue in Iraq. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, has been hearing reports about how sales of the former P.O.W.'s book I'm a Soldier Too: the Jessica Lynch Story did not get off to a resounding start. She believes Lynch is being punished for rejecting overblown reports of her military experiences in Iraq that characterized her as some kind of Rambo-like figure.
Donnelly feels that the press has been treating the new release with particular hostility. For instance, she says, "I don't recall a book having come out, where the big news of the day was 'Well, it didn't sell as much as Hilary Clinton's book on the first day.' I think the media is turning on her because of her honesty."
And Donnelly says there may be another reason for the low sales of Lynch's book. She says she went with others to buy the book on the day it was released and found no copies in the store where she went to shop. "On the second day," Donnelly says, "there were some books, but they were hidden in the back under the table. So that's how, sometimes, booksellers will operate."
The military readiness expert says this is not the first time feminists have abandoned a female soldier once it has been revealed that she was not some kind of "Jane Wayne."
Donnelly recounts another case of a female soldier whose military exploits were hyped and who was championed by the media and feminist groups as well as by those promoting legislation to allow women in combat. But once that officer had served the purposes of her erstwhile feminist allies, "they just dropped her," Donnelly says.
