…then you may not have heard much about Private Jessica Lynch. Not much having to do with reality, that is. She was the one who, according to the Pentagon, was shot, stabbed and captured by the Iraqis, who took her to a hospital where her injuries were ignored and she was slapped around by Iraqi soldiers, until a valiant squad of American soldiers staged a nighttime rescue mission during which, under enemy fire, they got Private Lynch out of danger and onto a chopper that brought her back safe. We even saw parts of it on TV.

Sadly, it’s fiction. Practically science fiction, in fact. The BBC broke the story that Lynch’s rescue was a staged media event. First of all, she was injured when her vehicle overturned, and was not shot or stabbed–this confirmed by U.S. doctors, who added that her wounds had indeed been properly treated, not ignored. Apparently, Lynch was given the best possible treatment in light of the situation, and local doctors donated their own blood. She was not, it turns out, slapped or even interrogated in any way. In fact, Iraqi forces deserted the hospital many days before the “rescue,” and Iraqi doctors even tried to deliver her back in an ambulance–but were turned back when U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire on the vehicle. The “rescue” a few days later was unnecessary, no one fired on the American troops, though the U.S. troops did fire many shots and set off some explosions in the hospital. They were even offered a master key so they would not have to knock down the hospital’s doors, but for some reason declined to accept it. And the video we saw was shot by the military, was carefully edited, and the original tape is still under lock and key–the administration refuses to release it. Now a Democratic contender, Dennis Kucinich, is demanding the full and unedited tape be released. Like that’ll happen soon. It’s likely resting comfortably in a secure, undisclosed location next to Cheney’s transcripts of energy policy meetings and President Bush’s full criminal record.

And now, everyone involved has shut up. An Iraqi lawyer who gave intel for the attack was rewarded with asylum in the U.S. and refuses interviews. The soldiers who were involved in the raid also refuse to recount what happened, Private Lynch has “amnesia,” and her family says they’re “not supposed to talk about it” (but if Lynch has amnesia, what could they possibly say?).

The media, which gave endlessly repeated coverage to Lynch’s plight, rescue, and aftermath, is now quiet as a church mouse about it. The main media outlets cover the story only laterally, usually in reference to some other story like an attack on the BBC’s reliability, or in the form of a Pentagon denial. More stories appear on newspaper web sites, but usually laden with refutations by military analysts and “experts” which make the Iraqi doctors sound like liars. The L.A. Times had a reasonable story on it, and I’m sure some others, but most others carried the standard AP Newswire feed–and what coverage there has been of how we were lied to is massively overwhelmed by the coverage given to the fiction.

The TV people will certainly make sure you get the more palatable version. A&E has already broadcast a documentary about the false version of events, and NBC (which gushed about the rescue in this “news” story) has a made-for-TV movie coming out later this year. Think they’ll go for the BBC account?