July 11, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1424

WASHINGTON, July 10: An official US Army report on Thursday demolished much of the myth of a young woman soldier who was captured in Iraq.

The first official version of the capture and dramatic rescue of the teenage soldier Jessica Lynch touched many hearts. For millions of Americans it still symbolizes heroism in the war.

But the new version depicts a scene of blunders, malfunctioning weapons and wrong decisions and has already led to calls for an inquiry to determine who was responsible.

The 19-year old army clerk from West Virginia was captured on March 23 after her 507th Maintenance Company convoy took a wrong turn near Nasiriyah and ran into an Iraqi ambush. She spent nine days in captivity. Ms Lynch is now recuperating at a hospital in Washington and has not spoken about her ordeal.

Eleven of the 33 soldiers from her 507th Maintenance Company were killed and six were taken prisoner.

At the time, reports said that she fought heroically had emptied two revolvers in the fight with Iraqi troops. The new report says the teenager suffered extensive fractures when her friend Private Lori Ann Piestewa lost control of their Humvee vehicle. She smashed the vehicle into a tractor-trailer at a high speed while trying to escape an Iraqi ambush.

Both women were pulled from the wreckage by their attackers and taken to hospital where 23-year-old Ms Piestewa later died.

“Ms Lynch survived principally because of the medical attention she received from the Iraqis,” said one US official.

The 15-page report is based largely on a commander’s investigation into the ambush.

It said Lynch’s convoy “found itself in a desperate situation due to a navigational error caused by the combined effects of the operational pace, acute fatigue, isolation and the harsh environmental conditions.”

“The tragic results of this error placed the soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company in a torrent of fire” from Iraqi soldiers in a running battle with the convoy.

The report does not recommend disciplinary action.