The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.and, as if that wasn't enough,
Among other information contained in the documents:
• In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."
• The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn't recall details of his actions.
General Wesley Clark told Keith Olbermann last night that this coverup was not something that was initiated by a lower level general, that "the orders came from the very top."
The notion that the U.S. government gave orders for Army top brass to execute Pat Tillman in cold blood is the most damaging indictment of the Iraq war since it began, trumping the lies about weapons of mass destruction tenfold, but if the establishment media continue to soft-peddle and steam-valve one of the biggest stories of the century its impact will be completely diluted.
TRex, at firedoglake.com comments, in a blog entry titled, BREAKING: A Whole New Level of Horror
This must be what the Bush Administration was trying so desperately to hide behind their all purpose “Executive Privilege” shield. Read more.
I wonder how long it will take the John Derbyshires and Michelle Malkins of the Rabid Right to insist that Tillman was to blame for his own murder. Start the countdown. Let’s synchronize our watches…
Because remember, kids, nobody supports the troops like the Republicans. Until they do something that’s bad for PR like get hurt or killed or dare to actually tell the truth about the GOP’s Great War on Civilians. Then it’s off to the trash heap of history with them.
Of all the disgraceful, sickening things our country has done in the name of “spreading liberty” in the Great War on Terrah, this one is a real prize-winner. I only hope that his family can find some kind of peace in the days ahead. In the wake of such a devastating loss followed by a breathtaking series of insults and brush-offs from the US government and the leadership of the armed forces, if I were in their shoes, I think I would simply have lost my mind by now.
Of all the disgraceful, sickening things our country has done in the name of “spreading liberty” in the Great War on Terrah, this one is a real prize-winner. I only hope that his family can find some kind of peace in the days ahead. In the wake of such a devastating loss followed by a breathtaking series of insults and brush-offs from the US government and the leadership of the armed forces, if I were in their shoes, I think I would simply have lost my mind by now.
The probe is "a sham," the New York DailyNews reports Mary Tillman, Pat Tillman's mother said. The Daily News article reported,
Pat Tillman's family yesterday ripped the Army's latest investigation of the pro football star's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan as a "sham" meant to protect higherups.and also reported,
"It's so humiliating and disrespectful," said Mary Tillman, mother of the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who joined the Army and became a Ranger after 9/11.
"It's one more example of the Army investigating itself," she said. "It was all done to glorify this war. It's a sham. Pat deserves the truth."
Army Secretary Pete Geren is expected to recommend next week against criminal action but urge that four generals and three other officers be reprimanded for "critical errors" that misled the family and the nation into thinking Tillman was killed in combat in April 2004.
The officers also allowed the approval of Tillman's Silver Star award, which said he died in a charge against the enemy when he was actually killed by machine-gun fire from his own platoon.
Geren is also expected to recommend that retired Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, former head of Army special operations, be demoted one rank to major general. The action would cut Kensinger's monthly pension from about $8,800 to $7,900.
Five weeks after Tillman's death, when Kensinger already knew about the friendly-fire reports, he joined the family at a nationally televised memorial service but did not dispute the Silver Star citation.
Mary Tillman said Kensinger "was just the fall guy" for others in the chain of command. She suggested that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also knew that her son had fallen to friendly fire but kept the facts hidden so his death could be used as propaganda for the war.
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