I want to be clear- despite the circumstances of his death, Mr. Tillman died in the service of his country, for which he is to be praised. How he died does not diminish his life, accomplishments, morals, or character.
But the "how" aspect of his death, combined with the incredibly botched incidents that followed, disgust me to no end. I believe it is indicative of the arrogance of the current administration. Often, the White House has pleaded ignorance when things in Irag go wrong- Abu Grhaib, etc. Well, it's time for the shit to start flowing uphill.
In the early days of the war in Afghanistan, Tillman was the President's wet dream. All-American boy, choosing what he sensed as duty over money, special forces stand out, and so on. You all know the story. When he died, as a result of "friendly" fire, he was given a memorial worthy of a general, with speeches by Senators and celebrities, and even the President. I believe that the administration was unabashed in trying to exploit Tillman's death in exchange for support of the war.
Friendly fire is a fact of war. But it's never the facts that get you in the end: it's the cover up.
The Army knew it was friendly fire the minute it happened. Yet this fact was not released until months after the funeral. As stated earlier, the circumstances of Tillman's death do not diminish his life. But friendly fire does not sound quite as good as someone who died facing an enemy ambush. Sen. John McCain called the former football star's combat death a blow to Americans' morale. I guess if the facts were released right a way, it would have been even more of a death blow. Imagine the army killing its own golden boy, albeit by mistake.
CNN reports the initial investigation into the death-- conducted by an Army captain that CNN has identified as Richard Scott -- contains much harsher judgments than those reached in a later probe by a one-star general.
In a sworn deposition given five months after Tillman's death, Scott said that some stories "have changed. They have changed to, I think, help some individuals."
Does the Army have a whistleblower policy? I hope so, for Captain Scott's sake!
Scott said that in retelling, some distances have grown longer, some lighting conditions worse and even the position of the allied Afghan soldier was changed...It was -- in Scott's opinion -- a lack of discipline that should have brought serious punishment.
From CNN- Tillman's uniform was burned by soldiers after his death. The Army's most recent investigation concludes Tillman's uniform and body armor should have been preserved, but the latest report disputes that it was burned in an attempt to cover anything up.
It's always the cover up!
posted by The leftist southpaw @ 8:02 AM
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