Friday News Dump-- Pat Tillman Edition

Since this is a late entry, I'll make it brief. Late last Friday the Pentagon, under cover of the night, released the official report on the cover-up of the friendly fire killing of Corporal Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

As we all may remember, Tillman gave up a lucrative NFL career to volunteer for the Special Forces after September 11, 2001. He turned down cushy recruiting duties that the military offered him in order to out himself in harm's way for his country. Tillman trained and deployed and was subsequently killed in action accidentally by his own comrades.

Cpl. Tillman's family was paid back with a series of orchestrated lies by senior Pentagon brass. The cause of death was purposefully obfuscated until after a televised memorial service for Tillman two weeks after his death. Upon learning of the cover-up, his irate mother noted that such abhorrent behavior was done for “patriotic” reasons.

The most recent report notes that three investigations into the friendly fire incident were mishandled and up to half a dozen Army Generals, including John Abizaid, lied about the incident. The truth was known about Tillman's killing within 24 hours of the unfortunate incident, but the Generals made a concerted effort to dissemble and mislead.

Tillman's father said:

"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. [T]hey realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."

Tillman's mother said:

"It makes you feel like you're losing your mind in a way. You imagine things. When you don't know the truth, certain details can be blown out of proportion. The truth may be painful, but it's the truth. You start to contrive all these scenarios that could have taken place because they just kept lying. If you feel you're being lied to, you can never put it to rest."

Mistakes happen, especially in war; most people understand that. Family members deserve the respect and humanity to be given the truth about such things at the time of their discovery. Conveniently, the Pentagon found “no criminal negligence” in neither the incident nor the several cover-ups which followed.

I'll throw one more thought out there: George W. Bush, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is famous for watching SportsCenter every night, and the coverage of Pat Tillman's death on that show was ceaseless for months after his death. At some point Bush must have thought for one second, “I wonder how that guy died.” Controversy surrounding Tillman's death was almost immediate because he was a football hero and celebrity. Bush must have had access to reports and the Generals involved. Bush had said that “Pat Tillman was an inspiration both on and off the football field.”.

Did Bush never ask how Tillman died? If this is how we treat a celebrity, heaven help the poor working class folks. Atrocious.

UPDATE 3-27-07:

The Tillman family has issued a statement regarding the Pentagon report and is calling for Congressional hearings.

"The briefing we just received was shamefully unacceptable," the family said in a statement issued from their home in San Jose, where Pat Tillman grew up. "Our family is therefore compelled to continue our (pursuit of) the full truth about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death and the so-called 'missteps' and 'deficiencies' of Pat's unit, the Army, the Department of Defense, and this administration."

I'm sure that will provide terrific publicity for future military recruitment.