Former American POW Lynch's semi-nude photos under spotlight
( 2003-11-12 15:19) (Agencies)
The family of
Jessica Lynch. [File photo] | Porn king Larry
Flynt, casting himself in the unlikely role of white knight to US Army private
Jessica Lynch, said he bought semi-nude photos of the former POW "to keep them
out of circulation."
The Hustler publisher and free speech crusader said he acquired the snapshots
of Lynch from two soldiers who served with her. The slight blond became a
national hero after she was wounded and taken prisoner during the US-led
invasion of Iraq in March.
The
former American POW Jessica Lynch. [File
photo] | "I purchased them at first with the
intention of publishing them, however, I quickly changed my mind and decided
simply to keep them out of circulation," Flynt said in a statement. "If Jessica
Lynch wants to join the army and see the world, and if she wants to have a good
time while she's at it, I'm not here to judge her."
Flynt, a vocal critic of the Iraq conflict, described Lynch as a pawn in the
US government's "cynical attempt to create a 'hero' who can 'sell' the war to
the American people".
"But Jessica Lynch is not a hypocrite," he said. "She's a victim of the media
and the Government, co-conspirators desperate to justify the war in Iraq."
The photos reportedly feature a topless Lynch romping with two men at Fort
Bliss, Texas, where she was stationed before shipping off to Iraq earlier this
year.
A spokesman for Lynch's publisher, Alfred Knopf, could not immediately be
reached for comment. Knopf on Tuesday launched "I Am A Soldier,
Too."
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