Way back in March of 2003, the US launched a 'daring' rescue operation, to extract Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. She had been taken there, we were told, suffering terrible wounds, having been shot and stabbed, and her retrieval by Special Forces teams was hailed as a 'huge success', and Private Lynch herself hailed as a heroine..
Now, we find, this was spin.
That while indeed a Special Ops detail did rescue her,but, according to Jessica herself, they were firing blanks in the hospital, and setting off harmless explosions in the vicinity in a 'Rambo-like' fashion..
And further, she was not quite the heroine she was portrayed to be.. That she did not 'continue to fire upon the enemy until she ran out of ammunition, and all her comrades killed, but in truth hid until she was pulled from her APC by Iraqi forces..
So Jessica Lynch testified before a Congressional Hearing that her injuries, a broken arm, a broken leg and dislocated ankle, were indeed, as the Iraqi's had originally claimed, consistent with a 'road accident'..
It is interesting, for a couple of reasons, that this story has broken now..
One, is that Jessica Lynch herself wrote a book about her role in the army, in fact, it encompassed the role of all women serving in the front lines of the US Forces..
Keep in mind Jessica herself was basically a secretary.. not meant to be in combat..
and in this book, no mention of the 'spin' was mentioned..
Two, is the fact she was called before a Congressional Hearing, at this critical time when the US is re-evaluating it's role in Iraq, and is about to set a time-line for withdrawal of all forces from the area..
And three, that it undermines George's credibility even more, when it comes to his stance on the 'War Against Terrorism'..
Now George and Tony may well have opened a can of worms they wish they hadn't, when it comes to Iraq.. They may well wish they'd left Saddam in charge and the Kurds to fend for themselves..
But the box has been opened, and while Pandora found 'hope' at the bottom of hers, George and Tony may find ignominy..
Make no mistake, terrorism is real. We've seen it demonstrated in Britain, and discounting the conspiracy-theorists, in the US itself..
We hear of it on a daily basis from the Middle East.. and we know the players and their backers..
It would be utter hubris on our part now, to truely believe we can make a 'Western' State of Iraq.. Iran would not allow another Israel so close to it's borders..
But our efforts against those who would fight endlessly for the establishment of an Islamic world and the re-establishment of the Caliphate, cannot be discounted as 'waste of time and men and money'.. That threat is real, and regardless of how distasteful it may seem to some, it must be continued until it's been brought under control..
But once again..
It is the Islamic World that must perform this containment.
The fact is, we are not capable of eradicating fundamentalism. It must be a job for those who share the same basic ideology..
Our one effective weapon, is economics.
And it is, as simple as that.