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PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - A few readers have expressed displeasure at our
quoting a Prison Planet story on the possibility that Pat Tillman was
murdered. In fact, the parts we quoted were based almost entirely on
other sources including the AP and the Daily Kos. We have had, up to
now, little interest in the story, but when you have this degree of
official lying, the truth is certainly worth pursuing including
considering various alternatives. In the case of Tillman these would
include accidental friendly fire and fragging.
To those familiar with Vietnam the possibility of fragging does not seem
in the slightest to be an unreasonable possibility. To those familiar
with the Bush administration, the possibility of assassinating a
troublesome famous soldier is far from inconceivable. And, of course,
friendly fire remains a quite possible alternative.
We find it interesting and instructive, however, how often people
describe such
considerations as paranoiac or conspiratorial. A conspiracy is when two
or more people get together to do a bad thing. Anyone following politics
these days who doesn't have a few conspiracy theories isn't watching
very closely. Why are we allowed to have theories on every topic from
the creation of the universe to who is going to win the World Series
with the sole exception of wondering who in power is screwing us and
how?
We will continue to present logical theories of why bad things happened.
We will take these theories only as far as fact allows. For example,
facts strongly suggest that Vince Foster did not die at Ft. Marcey Park.
We also know there was a massive effort by the white House and law
enforcement to cover up facts in the case. Whether he was murdered - and
if so, by whom - or committed suicide elsewhere and had his body moved
we don't know.
Similarly, in the Tillman case, the facts suggest that he was shot at
short range by American troops. Whether it was murder or an accident we
don't know. But we sure as hell should be curious.
WIKIPEDIA - A report described in The Washington Post on May 4, 2005
(prepared upon the request of Tillman's family) by Brig. Gen. Gary M.
Jones revealed that in the days immediately following Tillman's death,
U.S. Army investigators were aware that Tillman was killed by friendly
fire, shot three times to the head. Jones reported that senior Army
commanders, including Gen. John Abizaid, knew of this fact within days
of the shooting but nevertheless approved the awarding of the Silver
Star, Purple Heart, and a posthumous promotion. The citation report
accompanying these awards said that Tillman was killed by enemy forces
and contained a detailed account of the supposed battle-which Army
leadership knew had never taken place.
Jones reported that members of Tillman's unit burned his body armor and
uniform in an apparent attempt to hide the fact that he was killed by
friendly fire. Several soldiers were subsequently punished for their
actions by being removed from the United States Army Rangers. . . .
Tillman's family was not informed of the finding that he was killed by
friendly fire until weeks after his memorial service, although at least
some senior Army officers knew of that fact prior to the service.
Tillman's parents have sharply criticized the Army's handling of the
incident; they charge that the Army was more concerned about protecting
its image and its recruiting efforts than about telling the truth.
His mother Mary Tillman told The Washington Post, "The fact that he was
the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is
absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it
afterward is disgusting." Tillman's father, Patrick Tillman, Sr., was
incensed by the cover-up of the cause of his son's death, which he
attributed to a conscious decision by the leadership of the U.S. Army to
protect the Army's image. . .
On March 4, 2006, the U.S. Defense Department Inspector General directed
the Army to open a criminal investigation of Tillman's death. The Army's
Criminal Investigative Division will determine if Tillman's death was
the result of negligent homicide.
On March 26, 2007, the Pentagon released their report on the events
surrounding Tillman's death and cover-up.
On April 24, 2007, his brother Kevin Tillman, testifying at a
congressional hearing, stated, "The deception surrounding this case was
an insult to the family: but more importantly, its primary purpose was
to deceive a whole nation. We say these things with disappointment and
sadness for our country. Once again, we have been used as props in a
Pentagon public relations exercise."
Tillman's diary was never returned to his family, and its whereabouts
are not publicly known.
On July 26, 2007, Chris Matthews reported on Hardball that Tillman's
death may have been a case of fragging - specifically that the bullet
holes were tight and neat, suggesting a shot at close range. Matthews
based his speculation on a report from the doctors who investigated
Tillman's body. The doctors speculated that the Army Ranger was cut down
by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman
JOSH WHITE WASHINGTON POST, MAY 23 2005 - Patrick Tillman Sr., a San
Jose lawyer, said he is furious about what he found in the volumes of
witness statements and investigative documents the Army has given to the
family. He decried what he calls a "botched homicide investigation" and
blames high-ranking Army officers for presenting "outright lies" to the
family and to the public.
"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of
their way to script this," Patrick Tillman said. "They purposely
interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they
thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting
efforts were going to go to hell in a hand basket if the truth about his
death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/
AR2005052200865.html
MARTHA MENDOZA, ASSOCIATED PRESS - As bullets flew above their heads,
the young soldier at Pat Tillman's side started praying. "I thought I
was praying to myself, but I guess he heard me," Sgt. Bryan O'Neal
recalled in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press. "He said
something like, 'Hey, O'Neal, why are you praying? God can't help us
now.'". . .
O'Neal said Tillman, a corporal, threw a smoke grenade to identify
themselves to fellow soldiers who were firing at them. Tillman was
waving his arms shouting "Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive)
Tillman, damn it!" again and again when he was killed, O'Neal said.
A chaplain who debriefed the entire unit days after Tillman's death
later described this exchange to investigators conducting a criminal
probe of the incident. But O'Neal strongly disputes portions of the
chaplain's testimony, outlined in some 2,300 pages of transcripts
released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a
Freedom of Information Act request.
The chaplain told investigators that O'Neal said Tillman was harsh in
his last moments, snapping, 'Would you shut your (expletive) mouth?
God's not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you
sniveling ..."
"He never would have called me 'sniveling,'" O'Neal said. "I don't
remember ever speaking to this chaplain, and I find this
characterization of Pat really upsetting. He never once degraded me.
He's the only person I ever worked for who didn't degrade anyone. He
wasn't that sort of person." The chaplain's name is blacked out in the
documents. . .
O'Neal said the shooters were "close, close enough for me to recognize
them, but they sure weren't 10 yards away. They were further than that.
I've thought about this plenty of times. They wouldn't have been more
than 50 yards away."
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3425156
NJ BIZ - Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close
proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried
without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL
player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by
The Associated Press.
"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as
described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on
the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
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.
Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked
Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they
had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon
eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a
friendly-fire accident.
http://www.njbiz.com/article.asp?aID=71450
JOSH SWILLER, HUFFINGTON POST - Many facts back up the idea that
Tillman's death was a planned out execution. Consider:
- Tillman and his platoon were Special Forces. They had hours and hours
of training that regular soldiers did not get. They were trained not to
shoot wildly and indiscriminately. Friendly fire is generally wild and
indiscriminate. It is not three bullets at close range.
- Tillman's crew was sent, for the first and only time ever on an
evening mission. What is the point of an evening mission besides massive
chaos? Daylight, you can see what's going on. Night, you can sneak up.
Evening, you wander into the sheepherders coming home from the mountain
pastures. Why exactly?
- The team's Humvee broke down on the way . . . and they were ordered
to continue on foot. Again, what was the point? Doesn't a broken down
Humvee in the lone road in the valley kind of ruin the element of
surprise?
- Tillman was, contrary to the Republican portrayal of him as a
reflexive patriot, deeply troubled by the war. In fact, he was overheard
speaking out about the Iraq invasion and telling another soldier to vote
for Kerry. Tillman's favorite author: none other than Norm Chomsky. A
visit with Chomsky was set up for as soon as Tillman returned. It seem
most likely he was planning to speak out loudly and publicly against the
war when his tour was over.
- Tillman kept an extensive journal since he was 16 and guarded it with
his life. Two days after his death, the journal, along with almost all
of his other personal affects, disappeared.
- The fiasco of the cover-up around his killing continues to go higher
and higher up the ladder ... our president himself has blocked the
release of information around the killing, claiming executive privilege.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-swiller/who-killed-pat-tillman_b_58178.html
KEITH OLBERMAN INTEVIEWS WESLEY CLARK
http://www.kxmb.com/News/Nation/147532.asp
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - A few readers have expressed displeasure at our
quoting a Prison Planet story on the possibility that Pat Tillman was
murdered. In fact, the parts we quoted were based almost entirely on
other sources including the AP and the Daily Kos. We have had, up to
now, little interest in the story, but when you have this degree of
official lying, the truth is certainly worth pursuing including
considering various alternatives. In the case of Tillman these would
include accidental friendly fire and fragging.
To those familiar with Vietnam the possibility of fragging does not seem
in the slightest to be an unreasonable possibility. To those familiar
with the Bush administration, the possibility of assassinating a
troublesome famous soldier is far from inconceivable. And, of course,
friendly fire remains a quite possible alternative.
We find it interesting and instructive, however, how often people
describe such
considerations as paranoiac or conspiratorial. A conspiracy is when two
or more people get together to do a bad thing. Anyone following politics
these days who doesn't have a few conspiracy theories isn't watching
very closely. Why are we allowed to have theories on every topic from
the creation of the universe to who is going to win the World Series
with the sole exception of wondering who in power is screwing us and
how?
We will continue to present logical theories of why bad things happened.
We will take these theories only as far as fact allows. For example,
facts strongly suggest that Vince Foster did not die at Ft. Marcey Park.
We also know there was a massive effort by the white House and law
enforcement to cover up facts in the case. Whether he was murdered - and
if so, by whom - or committed suicide elsewhere and had his body moved
we don't know.
Similarly, in the Tillman case, the facts suggest that he was shot at
short range by American troops. Whether it was murder or an accident we
don't know. But we sure as hell should be curious.
WIKIPEDIA - A report described in The Washington Post on May 4, 2005
(prepared upon the request of Tillman's family) by Brig. Gen. Gary M.
Jones revealed that in the days immediately following Tillman's death,
U.S. Army investigators were aware that Tillman was killed by friendly
fire, shot three times to the head. Jones reported that senior Army
commanders, including Gen. John Abizaid, knew of this fact within days
of the shooting but nevertheless approved the awarding of the Silver
Star, Purple Heart, and a posthumous promotion. The citation report
accompanying these awards said that Tillman was killed by enemy forces
and contained a detailed account of the supposed battle-which Army
leadership knew had never taken place.
Jones reported that members of Tillman's unit burned his body armor and
uniform in an apparent attempt to hide the fact that he was killed by
friendly fire. Several soldiers were subsequently punished for their
actions by being removed from the United States Army Rangers. . . .
Tillman's family was not informed of the finding that he was killed by
friendly fire until weeks after his memorial service, although at least
some senior Army officers knew of that fact prior to the service.
Tillman's parents have sharply criticized the Army's handling of the
incident; they charge that the Army was more concerned about protecting
its image and its recruiting efforts than about telling the truth.
His mother Mary Tillman told The Washington Post, "The fact that he was
the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is
absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it
afterward is disgusting." Tillman's father, Patrick Tillman, Sr., was
incensed by the cover-up of the cause of his son's death, which he
attributed to a conscious decision by the leadership of the U.S. Army to
protect the Army's image. . .
On March 4, 2006, the U.S. Defense Department Inspector General directed
the Army to open a criminal investigation of Tillman's death. The Army's
Criminal Investigative Division will determine if Tillman's death was
the result of negligent homicide.
On March 26, 2007, the Pentagon released their report on the events
surrounding Tillman's death and cover-up.
On April 24, 2007, his brother Kevin Tillman, testifying at a
congressional hearing, stated, "The deception surrounding this case was
an insult to the family: but more importantly, its primary purpose was
to deceive a whole nation. We say these things with disappointment and
sadness for our country. Once again, we have been used as props in a
Pentagon public relations exercise."
Tillman's diary was never returned to his family, and its whereabouts
are not publicly known.
On July 26, 2007, Chris Matthews reported on Hardball that Tillman's
death may have been a case of fragging - specifically that the bullet
holes were tight and neat, suggesting a shot at close range. Matthews
based his speculation on a report from the doctors who investigated
Tillman's body. The doctors speculated that the Army Ranger was cut down
by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman
JOSH WHITE WASHINGTON POST, MAY 23 2005 - Patrick Tillman Sr., a San
Jose lawyer, said he is furious about what he found in the volumes of
witness statements and investigative documents the Army has given to the
family. He decried what he calls a "botched homicide investigation" and
blames high-ranking Army officers for presenting "outright lies" to the
family and to the public.
"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of
their way to script this," Patrick Tillman said. "They purposely
interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they
thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting
efforts were going to go to hell in a hand basket if the truth about his
death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/
AR2005052200865.html
MARTHA MENDOZA, ASSOCIATED PRESS - As bullets flew above their heads,
the young soldier at Pat Tillman's side started praying. "I thought I
was praying to myself, but I guess he heard me," Sgt. Bryan O'Neal
recalled in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press. "He said
something like, 'Hey, O'Neal, why are you praying? God can't help us
now.'". . .
O'Neal said Tillman, a corporal, threw a smoke grenade to identify
themselves to fellow soldiers who were firing at them. Tillman was
waving his arms shouting "Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive)
Tillman, damn it!" again and again when he was killed, O'Neal said.
A chaplain who debriefed the entire unit days after Tillman's death
later described this exchange to investigators conducting a criminal
probe of the incident. But O'Neal strongly disputes portions of the
chaplain's testimony, outlined in some 2,300 pages of transcripts
released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a
Freedom of Information Act request.
The chaplain told investigators that O'Neal said Tillman was harsh in
his last moments, snapping, 'Would you shut your (expletive) mouth?
God's not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you
sniveling ..."
"He never would have called me 'sniveling,'" O'Neal said. "I don't
remember ever speaking to this chaplain, and I find this
characterization of Pat really upsetting. He never once degraded me.
He's the only person I ever worked for who didn't degrade anyone. He
wasn't that sort of person." The chaplain's name is blacked out in the
documents. . .
O'Neal said the shooters were "close, close enough for me to recognize
them, but they sure weren't 10 yards away. They were further than that.
I've thought about this plenty of times. They wouldn't have been more
than 50 yards away."
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3425156
NJ BIZ - Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close
proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried
without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL
player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by
The Associated Press.
"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as
described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on
the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
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.
Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked
Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they
had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon
eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a
friendly-fire accident.
http://www.njbiz.com/article.asp?aID=71450
JOSH SWILLER, HUFFINGTON POST - Many facts back up the idea that
Tillman's death was a planned out execution. Consider:
- Tillman and his platoon were Special Forces. They had hours and hours
of training that regular soldiers did not get. They were trained not to
shoot wildly and indiscriminately. Friendly fire is generally wild and
indiscriminate. It is not three bullets at close range.
- Tillman's crew was sent, for the first and only time ever on an
evening mission. What is the point of an evening mission besides massive
chaos? Daylight, you can see what's going on. Night, you can sneak up.
Evening, you wander into the sheepherders coming home from the mountain
pastures. Why exactly?
- The team's Humvee broke down on the way . . . and they were ordered
to continue on foot. Again, what was the point? Doesn't a broken down
Humvee in the lone road in the valley kind of ruin the element of
surprise?
- Tillman was, contrary to the Republican portrayal of him as a
reflexive patriot, deeply troubled by the war. In fact, he was overheard
speaking out about the Iraq invasion and telling another soldier to vote
for Kerry. Tillman's favorite author: none other than Norm Chomsky. A
visit with Chomsky was set up for as soon as Tillman returned. It seem
most likely he was planning to speak out loudly and publicly against the
war when his tour was over.
- Tillman kept an extensive journal since he was 16 and guarded it with
his life. Two days after his death, the journal, along with almost all
of his other personal affects, disappeared.
- The fiasco of the cover-up around his killing continues to go higher
and higher up the ladder ... our president himself has blocked the
release of information around the killing, claiming executive privilege.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-swiller/who-killed-pat-tillman_b_58178.html
KEITH OLBERMAN INTEVIEWS WESLEY CLARK
http://www.kxmb.com/News/Nation/147532.asp
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