POW Lynch 'used as war symbol'

2005-08-07 22:49

Washington - Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch, whose capture and rescue in the early days of the Iraq war turned her into a US icon, said in an interview released on Sunday that the US government had used her as an upbeat symbol in the conflict.

"I think I provided a way to boost everybody's confidence about the war," Lynch told Time magazine.

"I was used as a symbol. They could show the war was going great because 'we rescued this person'. It doesn't bother me anymore. It used to," she said.

Lynch, who has previously criticised the official US government portrayal of her rescue, said her book I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story allowed her to "set the record straight" about her March 23 2003 capture and rescue nine days later.

- AFP