Editorial: Calculated deception

Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

Former U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch told a House panel this week that she was befuddled by the Army's version of the events surrounding her 2003 capture in Iraq.

"I'm confused why they lied," Lynch said while testifying Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. She told the committee she never knew why military officials portrayed her as a "Rambo from West Virginia" when she was simply riding in a truck - not fighting - when she was injured and captured.

U.S. special forces rescued Lynch in April 2003 as she lay in an Iraqi hospital suffering from two broken legs, a broken arm and head injuries. By the time she was rescued, Army officials had publicly declared Lynch a hero who went down shooting.

Lynch testified alongside Kevin Tillman, the brother of Cpl. Pat Tillman , who was accidentally killed in Afghanistan in 2004 by gunfire from his own unit. Cpl. Tillman's death received an extraordinary amount of attention because he had already become a national symbol for patriotism and personal sacrifice, having given up a lucrative professional football career to enlist.

Kevin Tillman told the House panel that Army officials knew immediately that friendly fire had killed his brother. But in hopes of garnering more public support for the war, they used his brother's prominence and put "a patriotic glow" on the story and did not reveal the true story for a month. An Army Ranger who was with Cpl. Tillman at the time of the shooting told the House panel that a commanding officer had told him to say nothing about the incident.

It remains unclear how much the Bush administration knew about the incidents. As Lynch and Tillman described the bewilderment and confusion they and their families felt as the military exploited their personal tragedies for political gain, their testimony showed just how important it is for Congress to pursue the issue and find out exactly who knew what and when.

"The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideas of heroes," Lynch told the panel, "and they don't need to be told elaborate tales." But then, when it comes to this flawed war, this administration never has allowed the facts to obscure the path of a politically beneficial spin.