The Pat Tillman Investigation

What kills me is that they found no negligence in his death, only in the way it was handled (which will be determined in a parallel investigation). I mean, they guy had three bullet wounds in his head. You’d think, since Tillman wasn’t wearing his helmet, they would’ve recgnized him (and don’t forget, they were close enough to him to make three perfect head shots).

I don’t expect any generals to go down for this, much less four. Maybe a token colonel or two but certainly no one at the command level.

No ” malicious intent”???
Mr. Johnson, I am a great admirer of you, your writings, and your service to our country, but that is patently false.

Just as we learned in the Jessica Lynch story… the Whitehouse, the Army, and the Defense Dept., went to great lengths to propagandize the events surrounding both incidents.

Although there may not have been “malicious intent” on the part of the commanding officiers in the field at the outset of this story as they very well may have wanted to spare the Tillman family greater grief and sorrow.
However, once they learned that the Administration was using the unfortunate death of Mr. Tillman in a cynical effort to build support for their policies, they were duty-bound NOT to participate in the cover up.

It’s about HONOR, and in my opinion they forfeited their right to wear the uniform, and I hope each and every one of them is cashiered from the military.

We have come to expect and even accept this type of behavior from the pukes in this Administration, but we should never accept nor condone it from our military.

FROM LARRY JOHNSON:
Chris,
Where you there? How do you know “that is patently false”? I agree with you that the Bush Administration exploited his death for their political advantage, but I would note that the media did a lot of the hyping on their own. Tillman’s celebrity status made him a natural story when he died. The nature of the engagement was such that it was a recipe for fraticide but that it took a bit for the right story to get out.

Unfortunately friendly fire casualties are fairly common. You put people out in the open with firearms and getting juiced with adrenaline accidents are likely to happen.
LJ

At the time of his death Mr. Tillman had turned strongly against both wars: http://stangoff.com/?p=484
His death was spun to benefit the Bushies, in that he became a martyr for all the codpiece worshipers and keyboard warriors. In life he could have become a very powerful anti-war force. Try to imagine Tillman on stage with Chomsky or on campaign with Obama – a double barrel nightmare for the Bushies.
As for the cover-up, stonewalling and lies surrounding the circumstances of his death: as I recall the original story had him dying in a firefight with jihadis, which was clearly put out for propaganda value. My first reaction upon hearing of the friendly fire was how this could happen among Rangers, some of the best trained soldiers in the world. Perhaps the commanders were trying to protect the rep of the Rangers with the lies, who knows the motive. But it still nags at me that he could have caused real damage to the war propaganda if he ever made it home.

What happened to Pat Tilman?

Now that there have been a number of investigations and each has turned up a different conclusion and different persons responsible:
a person more likely to respect logic might surmise that the explanations have all been false and created to fit that day’s telling. to assume anything else would be to make oneself the butt of one’s own joke.
to imagine that anyone is going to tell the truth now is very naive

I should have been more complete, how does the official live with their self to create and then order someone to say something new each time? Does that person writing the press release even know what happened? Does anyone that does speak at all about this? If they had only told the truth from the start. But that is just not done.

Cpl. Tillman’s death was a symbolic loss. His rank is not mentioned with his name anymore, it is a case here of honest oversight. On the whole it is an effort to distance his loss from the perception of military casualty. He’s been reduced to PR damage control status.

Had America placed all of its focus in Afghanistan we could have stopped bin Laden from slipping the noose.

Iraq was scared enough before the war, Saddam was not in control of his country’s no fly zones and was willing to concede, provided we could guarantee diplomatic safety.

He could have suited our means there better than the next bloodthirsty cutthroat we place there.

If you say I support a barbarian, I say you support endless war based on false pretense and sacrifice in vain. Plus your barbarian will be no better, and probably much worse.

If keeping Saddam propped but minimal of reach with limited troop presence would have been immoral…

What would a person call our presence there for the next thirty years to constantly put down unrest our presence inflames along ethnic fault lines?

You say we don’t need to stay there thirty years? Then let’s leave now. If we don’t need to be there thirty years from now we don’t need to be there right now.

True statements can be reversed, according to classic empiricists. the philosophy of empire. Simone knows this. If such was not the case we would not have ended Desert Storm where we did.

Back to the premise, if you say we need to stay for stability, I ask why. Stability in and of itself is not guaranteed, or a prerequisite of being there.

Why must me provide stability? Because of our interests?

Well we’re right back to the oil after all. Saddam could have kept diminished but steady watch over said interest at minimal collateral result.

Then again the original NIE said as much.

Have any impact studies been undertaken to consider the fiscal return of Sunni backed Saudi insurgents attacking oil infrastructure? Said items were obviously blocked, Sauds are the number two customer to Israel for arms, we cannot upset the customers.

Israel’s more of a broker towards others of course.

Meanwhile ITT has been selling our night vision technology, the one item that places us ahead of others in operational/advisory roles.

The country gets less safe by the minute.

UCMJ doctrine is not followed, Rumsfeld is now above the law regarding torture. The only way that could be so is the result of direction by a superior. If he cannot be held liable for illegal action then the person who so ordered him must face the law’s full weight.

How can the SCOTUS play both sides of the fence? War powers only extend to command of uniformed/ deputized militia. There’s no consistency between actions in theater, on our own unprovoked/uninvaded soil, and in neutral/third party locations. In each case the war powers apply under different(not uniform) criteria.

Finally there should be a maximum call for Geneva protection towards the British Marines. This is an opportunity to bridge the expanse of polemics with the west and across the spectrum.

Iran has a new hostage crisis, any move by us would endanger those marines. Now Tony Blair is the new Jimmy Carter, only less popular, more immoral, and entirely unethical.

I didn’t think it was possible for my respect for the press to sink any lower but, once again, they’ve exceeded expectations. Their tireless dirt-digging in the Pat Tillman matter has been simply disgraceful.

Who has benefited from the disclosure that Tillman was killed by friendly fire? Certainly not his family. Not his friends. Not the Army or the country as a whole. Any veteran knows that people using heavy equipment and explosives in combat environments die in an infinite variety of ways, including friendly fire. Its a fact of life in a combat zone.

Is it news? No. The scope of the coverage proves it was another manufactured crisis, designed to add grist for the Leftmedia’s anti-war propaganda mill. The sole beneficiary of this non-news event was the reporter who disclosed it. He’ll probably get a Pulitzer.

Every story I‘ve seen on this matter has attempted to cast his Tillman’s superior officers as criminals for ‘covering up’ the actual events of his death. Isn’t it just as likely that those officers’ purpose was to soften the blow to Tillman’s family, by characterizing his death an act of heroism rather than a stupid accident?

Wouldn’t Tillman’s family have been happier believing that? What harm would that have done and what purpose is served by exposing the tragic and accidental circumstances to the world?

unclealfie – your beef is with the Tillman family, since they kept this alive by doggedly pursuing the truth. And gee, hard to imagine why they were distrustful after not knowing of his death for over a month, then having the official story change several times since.

Your “Leftmedia” nonsense is just delusional. Never, NEVER in American history has the media so willingly participated in war-profiteering and turned a blind eye to corruption. You are aware the GOP provided billions in tax cuts to big media when Bush took office? Do you ever remember Brokaw or Rather talking about Bush’s DUIs or cocaine habit before the 2000 election? Did you ever see anyone run the video clip of your boy king flipping off the camera?(that would have kinda ruined “the adults are back in charge” slogan) Or how the Bush families BFF’s are the Bin Ladens? That old man Bin Laden invested in George’s failed oil company? Nope. That Leftmedia of yours protected him and the GOP, bashed Gore and Kerry unmercifully with demonstrably false stories, then marched with him off to Iraq. The GOP is the golden goose for big media, and whores like Limbaugh and Hannity keep people like you believing big media hates them for all that cash.

Mart,

You left out the part where grandpa invested in Nazi steel and explosives even after Pearl Harbor and as we got involved in Europe, but who’s counting?

Larry,
Apparently Gen McChrystal told Abizaid & the admin about this early on – that it was more than likely friendly fire that killed Pat Tillman. McChrystal doesn’t deserve to be the fall guy here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From AP

For weeks after his death, the Pentagon maintained that Pat Tillman was killed in an enemy ambush, even after a top general tried to warn President Bush that the NFL star-turned-soldier likely died by friendly fire, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

In the memo sent to a superior officer seven days after Tillman’s death, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that the evidence strongly pointed to friendly fire and the nation’s leaders risked embarrassing themselves if they publicly said otherwise.

“I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country’s leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Cpl. Tillman’s death become public,” McChrystal wrote.

-snip-

In his memo, McChrystal said he had heard Bush and Brownlee “might include comments about Cpl. Tillman’s heroism and his approved Silver Star medal in speeches currently being prepared, not knowing the specifics surrounding his death.”

McChrystal said he expected an investigation under way “will find that it is highly possible Cpl. Tillman was killed by friendly fire.”

At the same time, McChrystal said: “The potential that he might have been killed by friendly fire in no way detracts from his witnessed heroism or the recommended personal decoration for valor in the face of the enemy.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070331/ap_on_re_us/tillman_friendly_fire

Two months after I came home from Vietnam, my closest friend was KIA when the mini-gun on a cobra gunship mis-fired and struck inside the small Ranger Team’s perimeter. Specialist Jaime Pacheco had, only moments before, rushed forward to throw 6 – 8 grenades and cover the withdrawal of his team mates. After Jaime’s death, the Company XO sent me a letter detailing how Jaime was killed, including the fact that it was friendly fire. This of course, took nothing away from Jaime’s earlier actions to save the team, actions that resulted in award of the Silver Star (Posthumously).
Not until I met Jaime’s family in 1998 did I see his Silver Star citation, which was presented to his family after his death. Like the Tillman case, there was no mention of the friendly-fire cause of death. With some unknown “sixth sense”, Jaime’s mother and siblings, as well as his son, always suspected there was something amiss.
I thought they were aware of the true circumstances of Jaime’s death and, after visiting with them and “spilling the beans” I felt quite guilty. Surprisingly, finally knowing the truth after more than 25 years actually brought closure.
Friendly fire deaths are facts of life in combat. The same cobra that took Jaime’s life may well have previously samed his own, as well as countless other soldiers. I’ve always had great sympathy for that pilot, and a proud respect for Jaime’s actions. I only wish the Army had told the family the truth in the beginning.
Should anyone wish to read Jaime’s story, it is online at http://www.HomeOfHeroes.com/godisgood and there are copies of his Silver Star Citation and the letter from our XO detailing how he REALLY died at: http://www.homeofheroes.com/godisgood/index12.html . Those facts don’t take away from his service, his sacrifice, or his heroism. The same is true for Jaime’s fellow Ranger of a new generation, Pat Tillman.

what is cool? almost a year later?