THE HOSTILE LOCALS (via Best of the Web):

SAVED (NILES LATHEM and KATE SHEEHY, April 2, 2003, NY Post)

In a twist right out of a Hollywood movie, U.S. intelligence may have pinpointed her exact whereabouts thanks to an Iraqi citizen - who passed a note, apparently written in English by a woman, to a Marine in the area yesterday, NBC reported.

"She's still alive. She's in room [deleted]," the note said, according to the network.

An NBC reporter also said he was approached the same day by an Iraqi who told him in English: "There's a woman in the Saddam Hospital who's an American soldier. Please make sure the people in charge know."

The CIA spearheaded efforts to track her down precisely, guided by crucial electronic intercepts and Iraqi POW informants, officials said.

The U.S. Marines did their part by launching an attack on other parts of the city to create a diversion just before the raid.

"The operation was timed so that U.S. forces rolled over the highway . . . bridge 15 minutes before the raid," a military source said.

Lynch's rescuers - Special Forces units made up of Army Rangers and Navy SEALs - typically work by flying into enemy territory in helicopters at night, then dropping themselves by rope to the ground.

Battles at the site raged for more than four hours. There were conflicting reports over whether there being more American POWs inside, some of them possibly dead.

Military brass vowed to find out.

"America doesn't leave its heroes behind," military spokesman Jim Wilkinson said. "It never has. It never will."

The Iraqi citizens who revealed this information at risk to their own lives are the true heroes of the story. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 2, 2003 4:23 PM