WTF?! Tillman killed by FRIENDLY FIRE??!

[UdoKier]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/12/05/national1718EST0509.DTL

New account of Pat Tillman's last minutes describes friendly-fire horror
Sunday, December 5, 2004
(12-05) 18:48 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

The last minutes of Pat Tillman's life were a horror of misdirected machine-gun fire and signals to firing colleagues that were misunderstood as hostile acts, according to an account published Sunday of the death of the NFL player-turned-soldier.

It took the Army a month to change the record to show that Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who gave up a $3.6 million contract to become an Army Ranger, was killed last April not by Afghan guerrillas but by his Ranger colleagues.

Ain't that a bitch? Would any of you let your children go over there? To line Dumbya's pockets? Hell no!

[fortyfeetunder]

1. Read the WaPo version

I was left shaking my head in disbelief. This is simply outrageous.

[Sara Beverley]

17. How can anyone believe what our military or this administration says?

If this had happened under Clinton's watch with a soldier in Bosnia or Serbia the Republicans would be all over the media talking about the lies to make heros to make Clinton look good and the American people focus on heroism instead of the military atocities and mess that is happening.

[imax2268]

2. you didn't know that...???

that was mentioned on DU months ago...

don't get me wrong...I still have much respect for what he did...giving up millions to serve his country...but it was odd how the media all of a sudden stopped all the tributes when they learned he was killed by friendly fire...

[TaleWgnDg]

3. This entire endeavor has been a comedy of tragic

errors from its inception including lies, deceit, and manipulation of our good and honorable fighting forces!

George Walker Bush's War Against Saddam has been a farce from get-go! How tragic the number of lives and injuries it has cost, and the billions of wasted U.S.A. taxpayer monies.

George Walker Bush should be impeached.



.

[bobthedrummer]

4. And Cheney, and Rumsfeld and all the neo-conservative TRAITORS!

Impeach the lot of them.

[TaleWgnDg]

6. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :yourock:

.

[Mistress Quickly]

11. He died in Afghanistan

not Iraq, FYI.

[Up2Late]

5. Wow, it only too the MSM 8 months to report this?

WTF, This is not NEW news, NPR reported this story 6 months ago.

Not that it makes it suck any less.

[Historic NY]

7. Fog of war, no command discipline.......whatever you want to call it......

me I call it a waste. A black mark & shame on the military that they couldn't cover up. Yes I know shit happens but these guys didn't have a command structure that realized just WTF was going on. No fire discipline. Do you know how big a 50 cal bullet is? And the guy empties every single ounce of what he has. Just plain stupid, some heads need to roll.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Yeah, I thought this was old news.

Must have got lost in the 24/7 Scott Peters-thon.

[Historic NY]

9. old news with new details of how he was killed. n/t

[DS1]

10. He came back in pieces.

.50 cals will do that to a person. Is he still a hero, or a remarkably selfless volunteer?

[underpants]

14. "Hero" is used way to often these days

I don't know what Tillman was (I do highly respect him for what he did) and you are right-that is why the MaDeuce is not supposed to be used against humans....not that you always have a choice or the time to consider it.

BTW(and in NO WAY do I mean this as disrespectful) NBC reported this morning that he stood up. He thought the other half of his Ranger team knew they were friendlies and he stood up and they hit him like that.

[DS1]

16. Standing up in combat. It's the ultimate

:wtf:

[Kingshakabobo]

24. Don't know about hero but he sure put his money

where his mouth is. Much more than you can say for 99.9% of the cheerleaders for this friggin stupid war.

[underpants]

25. That is for certain

All the would be warriors out there rah-rahing this war (actually Iraq) are full of shit.

[Johonny]

29. I think

It just makes him dead. Just another dead person from violence in the middle east.

[underpants]

12. WTF? This is news?

The fact that the Army covered it up is officially news (though not surprising) but the fact that he was killed by friendly fire really isn't.

[Monkie]

13. from UK paper..date: sunday May 30 2004

Friendly fire killed sports star turned soldier

Paul Harris in New York
Sunday May 30, 2004

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1228044,00.html

[mtnsnake]

15. The army, Bush, and right wing media (MSM) milked it for all it was worth

For 5 weeks they let thousands of young men sign up to fight and become "heroes" just like Tillman.

[theboss]

18. We always knew it was friendly fire

We didn't know the details until now.

[Blue_Tires]

19. BREAKING: this just in

i heard that the army also spruced up some of the details in the Jessica Lynch story....sorry, but i have no link

[UdoKier]

20. It was the first time I heard about Tillman being friendly fire victim

So shoot me.

[Blue_Tires]

22. it's alright; just bustin' yer chops n/t

[Up2Late]

26. No big deal Dude, we're just chattin'...

And we're all a bit pissed off about the whole thing.
:grouphug:

[Monkie]

21. bbc news may 2003:"It was like a Hollywood film" "guns with blanks"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm

"I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle," said Dr Harith a-Houssona, who looked after her"

"There was no shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only road traffic accident"

"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital - action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."

"But doctors now say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3251731.stm

Jessica Lynch condemns Pentagon

links :D

[ElsewheresDaughter]

23. shades of Jessica Lynch?

[Sugarcoated]

27. I read a post on another thread

that his family was speaking out and weren't too happy - any links?

[Dude_CalmDown]

28. Considering all the ways that he tried to show that he was a freindly...

-The smoke grenade
-Waving Arms
-Screaming
-Standing after they stopped shooting for a moment
-The wearing a US Army uniform

It seems that the firing orders are a little loose. I wonder if it is any easier for the civilians to get them to stop firing.