Lynndie England’s Victim Complex
Everyone that cares knows the name “Lynndie England” when they hear it. It conjures up images of torture, evil, and utterly sinister behavior.
A few days ago, England was invited to speak by Angela Kinney, president of the Library of Congress Professional Association. The event, scheduled to be held at the Library of Congress, had to be canceled due to supposed threats.
What the hell is the Library of Congress doing inviting England to begin with? This “woman” is directly responsible for the deaths of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some were beheaded as a direct result of her behavior.
And yet, England thinks SHE is the victim in all this. Sorry, Lynndie! You got off easy. You should have been charged with murder and attempted murder in the deaths of your fellow Soldiers! And yet, she has the nerve to say that her life sucks because she was “in a photograph for like a split second or something.” No, Lynndie, your life sucks because you made poor decisions in torturing, belittling and humiliating Iraqis against the laws of warfare and the Geneva Convention for which you to trained to comply with.
She talks in the interview about how the Iraqis were so bad in how they treated their captives that they burnt and hung us from bridges. What she won’t tell you is that this happened AFTER the photos were made public and as a result of HER behavior!!
And yet, that doesn’t stop her from going around claiming to be the victim in all of this, as she does in a recent BBC News interview. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she blames her boyfriend, her superiors, college fraternities, and the Iraqis themselves.
England is supposedly on anti-depressants and can’t get a job. No one will employ her. And no one should employ her until she recognizes she was wrong. Until she can blame herself for what happened at that notorious prison nearly six years ago, she will never get over it. If, indeed, her superiors told her to do this, why did she say that her boyfriend was the one pushing her to do it? If she was ordered to torture and humiliate prisoners, what is the name of the person or persons making those orders? What are we supposed to believe when she initially says she only did it because her boyfriend wanted her to and then says that is “what we were ordered to do?”
Lynndie was invited to the Library of Congress to speak about a new biography about her called “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs That Shocked the World,” by Gary S. Winkler. See the entire BBC interview here.
CWO George Samek US Army Retired
August 17th, 2009 at 8:12 pmSorry Ms England..As a member of the 18th MP Brigade in Vietnam I can say to you that I spit upon your poor diservice to the US Army and the all the MPs who have ever served.
You are street trash and I do hope you end up living in a cardboard box in Washington DC.
Carry your cry baby ass over to the IVAW and seek a shoulder to cry on and someone to listen to your phony excuse for what you and your fellow butt buddies did in Iraq.
You have helped to bring death to your fellow soldiers and may you and your breed rot in hell.
I hope you understand as a two tour Vietnam Vet I despise your conduct and you are less Honoi John Kerry and Honoi Jane Fonda.
May your name go down in military history along with the Vietnam turn coat POWs.
brat
August 17th, 2009 at 9:21 pmMy hope is that once her 15 minutes of spotlight are over, she is dumped into the pit of obscurity, which is where she belongs. AND I hope that not one of her “poor me” books is sold…
Thank YOU for your service, CWO Samek.
Herbert Rudolph, TSgt, USAF (Ret'd)
August 17th, 2009 at 11:12 pmMs. England, you screwed-up royally when you failed to take responsibility for your actions. You are placing the blame for your actions on persons and events, rather than where it belongs: squarely upon your own shoulders. No one held a weapon to your head, no one pointed a bayonet to your chest when you took it upon yourself to disgrace your uniform, the United States Army, and the United States of America. You knew exactly what you were doing when you were having your moment of “fun” with the enemy, and now you are doing your best to misplace the blame. You had your 10 seconds of fame posing for that picture, when in fact you behaved in utmost disrespect to your military compatriots, your superiors, and your country. Now, you must pay the piper. Admit that your miserable behavior was a momentary lapse in human compassion, and take your punishment without further name-calling and blame-passing. Grow up!! When you come to grips with reality, you may become a better person in spite of your childish behavior.
Gary S. Winkler
August 18th, 2009 at 7:30 amAs the author of the book TORTURED I can honestly say that I agree with you guys. Lynndie England claims that she was only following orders, but she can never say exactly whose orders she was following. And why did she choose to follow those particular orders when she consistently disobeyed direct orders from her superiors on all previous ocassions? That’s why England was demoted from Specialist back to a Private even before the Abu Ghraib pictures came to light. Lynndie England was not fit for military service and she continues to show the American public and the rest of the world the “ugly” face of the Iraq war. Still, I hope you will read the book because I dedicate it to the rest of England’s company [372nd MP] and all those soldiers who didn’t deserve to be shit on. gsw
Joan
August 18th, 2009 at 8:29 amI agree with your feelings about England, but have you even read the book? I have, and it does not give her “pass go and collect $100.00″. The book is cased on interviews with she and her family, as well as investigation and court documents. The story is not told just through Lynndie England’s eyes. Interestingly, I read somewhere that David Moore’s complaint about “freedom of speech” was not extended to the author of the book. It is like England is trying to pretend she wrote the book.
CJ
August 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pmMr. Winkler, thanks for your comment. I sent you an email (don’t worry, only I can see it) requesting a chance to speak with you and clear this up. Since we agree on the premise, I may have put the cart before the horse and unfairly biased your book. I’m willing to give it a chance. Please check your email. Thanks for stopping by.
Flag Gazer
August 19th, 2009 at 12:30 amTom Tucker was a neighbor and a delightful young man. Christian Menchaca was known to be also, and has one of the sweetest Moms on earth. These young men were kidnapped and tortured to death, in a manner so unspeakable that even the anti-war press wouldn’t describe it. It was personal to me… very personal. It is personal to my community. It was personal to me when one of my ‘adopted’ soldiers had the first duty at Abu Ghraib and went through hell thanks to her and her friends. And she still feels sorry for herself?
I blame Lynndie England. She’s lucky most people weren’t paying attention to her DIRECT involvement it. I hope her life is hell – every damn minute of it.