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American Morning

Double Standard?

Aired October 24, 2003 - 09:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to a story that we were chatting about a little bit earlier this morning. Is there a double standard for veterans of the war in Iraq? That is the disturbing question that's now being raised by the case of Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson. She was shot in both legs, held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days. Now she's on the verge of discharge, and she learned last week that she will get a 30 percent disability benefit. Well compare that with her friend and comrade Jessica Lynch, who's getting 80 percent. So why is there such a difference? some are saying that race is part of the reason. Her family has enlisted some help from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who joins us this morning from Dallas.
Good morning to you, Reverend Jackson. Thanks for joining us.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: As you heard the figures. I know you know them well, 80 percent is what Jessica Lynch is getting; 30 percent disability benefits is what Shoshana Johnson is going to be getting. What has the Army said is the reason for the difference?

JACKSON: Well, they have not yet said. First of all, Jessica Lynch deserves all the treatment that she is getting. She was a victim of Iraq, and the Army built around her this caricature of American bravado. They said she was shot and stabbed and shot to the last bullet, and she did not say that, and that did not happen. But they sought to use her as a propaganda tool for American bravado.

She was on the cover of "Newsweek" and time and became a kind of symbol of the war. On the other hand, Shoshana Johnson actually was shot, one bullet pierced and shattered both ankles, was in captivity for 22 days. And now she is facing discharge, interrupting her 20- year career, with 30 percent disability, way beneath what she needs and deserves with a 3-year-old child.

O'BRIEN: What do you think is the reason for the disparity?

I'll repeat the question.

JACKSON: I can't hear her.

O'BRIEN: That's OK. I'll repeat the question for you. Let me see if can you get your audio working again Reverend Jackson.

JACKSON: I can hear you now. O'BRIEN: Oh, terrific. Well, what do you think, give me your rationale for the disparity? What do you think is the difference? Is it the media attention? Is it that somehow Jessica Lynch went on to become a media superstar, and that did not happen with Shoshana Johnson?

JACKSON: Well, the media superstar is because the government sold the media the propaganda characterization. Therefore the media was in bed with the military. The immediate kind of took it and ran with it. So that was the first story about Jessica Lynch, and that was the second story. But it seemed to me it's not just Shoshana. There's a number of injured veterans, period, who have not had their injuries assessed, their parents sending bulletproof vests for their use in Iraq, who are in the military, of the soldiers in the military, in the hospital, had to pay for their own food. So there is an even bigger issue of how are we eating the injured shoulders and veterans of the Iraqi war?

O'BRIEN: So let me read to you what the Army had to say. This is from the Army spokesman, Major Steve Sober (ph). He wrote, "There is not double standard in the Army. Every soldier is treating equally when they go before a medical review board. And in all situations, race is not an issue. Compensation for each soldier is based on an individual basis. It sounds like you're saying that Jessica Lynch went on to become a media star, the other people haven't, and that's part of the reason. Do you blame the Army? Do you think there's a double standard here?

JACKSON: It is a double standard. But not only is it the media factor. The fact is Jessica Lynch was injured, and she is now in recovery. How it's handled by the media is one issue. But Shoshana Johnson was actually shot and in captivity for 22 days, and still physically injured, and emotionally going through highs and lows, and she has been discharged with a $600 a month, 30 percent disability, and it does not correspond to the nature of her injury, physically or emotionally.

O'BRIEN: You have spent time with the family, and I know that they have asked you to step in and represent her issues so that she can get a little publicity on this, in addition to other things that you're doing. Give me a sense of how she's doing. You mention that she's still struggling with some issues. How is she?

JACKSON: Well, she's still struggling physically. She walked awhile, but she cannot walk long. She then has to put her legs up to take away the stress. She still has playbacks about being in the war under those conditions, so she goes through these highs and lows of stress.

Now she's about to be discharged. She faces out of the military, a physically unable, a 30 percent disability, $600 a month and a 3- year-old child.

But it raises, I must admit, the bigger question, of how are the injured of the Iraqi war being treated? There are several hundred of them who've not yet had their injuries assessed. And to think that we're spending $87 billion for Iraqi reconstruction to take care of Iraqi soldiers and not American soldiers. That is unacceptable.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Jesse Jackson, thanks for talking with us this morning. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 24, 2003 - 09:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to a story that we were chatting about a little bit earlier this morning. Is there a double standard for veterans of the war in Iraq? That is the disturbing question that's now being raised by the case of Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson. She was shot in both legs, held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days. Now she's on the verge of discharge, and she learned last week that she will get a 30 percent disability benefit. Well compare that with her friend and comrade Jessica Lynch, who's getting 80 percent. So why is there such a difference? some are saying that race is part of the reason. Her family has enlisted some help from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who joins us this morning from Dallas.
Good morning to you, Reverend Jackson. Thanks for joining us.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: As you heard the figures. I know you know them well, 80 percent is what Jessica Lynch is getting; 30 percent disability benefits is what Shoshana Johnson is going to be getting. What has the Army said is the reason for the difference?

JACKSON: Well, they have not yet said. First of all, Jessica Lynch deserves all the treatment that she is getting. She was a victim of Iraq, and the Army built around her this caricature of American bravado. They said she was shot and stabbed and shot to the last bullet, and she did not say that, and that did not happen. But they sought to use her as a propaganda tool for American bravado.

She was on the cover of "Newsweek" and time and became a kind of symbol of the war. On the other hand, Shoshana Johnson actually was shot, one bullet pierced and shattered both ankles, was in captivity for 22 days. And now she is facing discharge, interrupting her 20- year career, with 30 percent disability, way beneath what she needs and deserves with a 3-year-old child.

O'BRIEN: What do you think is the reason for the disparity?

I'll repeat the question.

JACKSON: I can't hear her.

O'BRIEN: That's OK. I'll repeat the question for you. Let me see if can you get your audio working again Reverend Jackson.

JACKSON: I can hear you now. O'BRIEN: Oh, terrific. Well, what do you think, give me your rationale for the disparity? What do you think is the difference? Is it the media attention? Is it that somehow Jessica Lynch went on to become a media superstar, and that did not happen with Shoshana Johnson?

JACKSON: Well, the media superstar is because the government sold the media the propaganda characterization. Therefore the media was in bed with the military. The immediate kind of took it and ran with it. So that was the first story about Jessica Lynch, and that was the second story. But it seemed to me it's not just Shoshana. There's a number of injured veterans, period, who have not had their injuries assessed, their parents sending bulletproof vests for their use in Iraq, who are in the military, of the soldiers in the military, in the hospital, had to pay for their own food. So there is an even bigger issue of how are we eating the injured shoulders and veterans of the Iraqi war?

O'BRIEN: So let me read to you what the Army had to say. This is from the Army spokesman, Major Steve Sober (ph). He wrote, "There is not double standard in the Army. Every soldier is treating equally when they go before a medical review board. And in all situations, race is not an issue. Compensation for each soldier is based on an individual basis. It sounds like you're saying that Jessica Lynch went on to become a media star, the other people haven't, and that's part of the reason. Do you blame the Army? Do you think there's a double standard here?

JACKSON: It is a double standard. But not only is it the media factor. The fact is Jessica Lynch was injured, and she is now in recovery. How it's handled by the media is one issue. But Shoshana Johnson was actually shot and in captivity for 22 days, and still physically injured, and emotionally going through highs and lows, and she has been discharged with a $600 a month, 30 percent disability, and it does not correspond to the nature of her injury, physically or emotionally.

O'BRIEN: You have spent time with the family, and I know that they have asked you to step in and represent her issues so that she can get a little publicity on this, in addition to other things that you're doing. Give me a sense of how she's doing. You mention that she's still struggling with some issues. How is she?

JACKSON: Well, she's still struggling physically. She walked awhile, but she cannot walk long. She then has to put her legs up to take away the stress. She still has playbacks about being in the war under those conditions, so she goes through these highs and lows of stress.

Now she's about to be discharged. She faces out of the military, a physically unable, a 30 percent disability, $600 a month and a 3- year-old child.

But it raises, I must admit, the bigger question, of how are the injured of the Iraqi war being treated? There are several hundred of them who've not yet had their injuries assessed. And to think that we're spending $87 billion for Iraqi reconstruction to take care of Iraqi soldiers and not American soldiers. That is unacceptable.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Jesse Jackson, thanks for talking with us this morning. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com