06/19/2003 Entry: "A Lesson From Pfc. Lynch"
Posted by Maynard @ 10:02 AM MST

A Lesson From Pfc. Lynch

This Washington Post article is a good bit of reporting on the Jessica Lynch story. About midway down the page you find this interesting paragraph:

In the hours after the ambush, Arabic-speaking interpreters at the National Security Agency, reviewing intercepted Iraqi communications from either hand-held radios or cellular phones, heard references to "an American female soldier with blond hair who was very brave and fought against them," according to a senior military officer who read the top-secret intelligence report when it came in. An intelligence source cited reports from Iraqis at the scene, saying she had fired all her ammunition.
...
These intelligence reports, and the one bit of eavesdropping, created the story of the war.

If you read the rest of the article you find that Pfc. Lynch's weapon jammed, which prevented her from firing her ammunition. The article makes clear a very important lesson in war: if your attacks on the enemies communications are going well, be careful of what intelligence you gather from them. It may be corrupted by your previous efforts.

In civilian terms, don't believe everything you hear or read, only the good stuff.

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