ESPN investigates Pat Tillman's death: An Un-American Tragedy

[warrens]

This ought to stir up a hornet's nest and really sock it to the "support our troops" morons who can't ever admit that some, maybe many, of our troops deserve no support at all

"Two years after Tillman's death, the perspectives on the circumstances are still very much at odds and the story is still very much alive. As the Defense Department Inspector General's office nears the completion of yet another investigation into Tillman's death, many very important questions remain unanswered.

• Are the Rangers who fired at Tillman and their other fellow soldiers guilty of criminal wrongdoing?

• Why did the Army exaggerate Tillman's actions on the battlefield during the firefight in which he was killed?

• Did the Army purposely conceal that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire? If so, why?

• And did the Army consciously puff up the Tillman story by awarding the dead soldier a Silver Star, its third-highest distinction for combat valor, to go along with his Purple Heart and a posthumous promotion from specialist to corporal?

For reasons that remain under investigation more than two years later, the Pentagon elected for almost five weeks after the incident not to disclose the fact Tillman had been gunned down by members of his own platoon. Yet some in Tillman's unit knew the night it happened. ESPN.com found that word of the fratricide had filtered through the ranks within a day or two of Tillman's death.

Army brass calling the shots from Camp Salerno also understood what had to be, for them, the discomfiting news about the elite group of soldiers expected to live and fight by a Ranger Creed that reads, in part, "I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy, and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country." According to one of the documents obtained by ESPN.com, an Army official flown in to join the platoon the day after the shooting as part of the April 25, 2004, debriefing process told Army investigators, "I think at that point people already knew that it was a fratricide." He said, "So when I say 'people' — leadership, okay."

Sorry, forgot link

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tillmanpart1

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. Nothing To See Here.....Move Along.

I'm sure they'll do a real solid investigation. Those wacky nuts at ESPN, I'm certain they're thorough.

There is much more to this story than meets the eye. Unfortunately, little will come of it because....well, you know....because we're basically in a dictatorship, and it would look back for the authorities and our military folk.

[gratuitous]

11. ESPN does a pretty good job on its areas of expertise

Bob Ley on his "Outside the Lines" program has done a good job on a lot of stories: in-depth, balanced, and thorough. Why it should fall to ESPN to do a thorough investigation of a soldier's death in Afghanistan is beyond me, but I'll take it where I can get it.

Certainly the questions they're raising (from the original post) haven't been widely aired to this point. Where are ABC, CBS and NBC on this? Or don't the networks care about the yawning gap between the official military line in connection with Tillman's death and the reality?

[nickgutierrez]

22. Why is ESPN doing the job?

Because nobody else will.

[blm]

24. ESPN is not a political propoganda tool like most broadcast newsmedia.

You would think Hardball, Larry King and all the other political talk shows would be all over this story - - we KNOW why they were never going to talk about it in any full way - they would never highlight any issue that shows how criminally culpable BushInc actually is for so many reasons.

[Autumn Colors]

2. I hope they do stir up some attention

Gee, it couldn't be because Tillman was telling people he was going to campaign for Kerry-Edwards when he returned home, could it?

Can't have that all American hero who signed up after 9/11 coming home from the battlefield to help the Democrats now, can we?

[blm]

4. I most certainly believe BushInc did NOT want to have Tillman campaigning

for Kerry all over the country. That would have forced them to rig 5 million more votes to switch to them. The media might not have been able to ignore THAT spread from the exit polls.

[elehhhhna]

14. scary. it's a small leap for me to go from "coverup" to "setup"

[blm]

17. That's the whole thing about BushInc - you can think the worst of them

on every matter, and eventually history will prove you were correct about 95% of the time.

[WilliamPitt]

3. Link?

[bullwinkle428]

5. I just found the link on the ESPN site!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tillmanpart1

[fooj]

6. Wow. That's quite an article.

[underpants]

7. I have seen an ESPN report on this before

Good for them for investigating it.

That being said here is a theory that I haven't seen anywhere.... I think they killed him so he couldn't come back to the US and tell people (ESPN viewers) about the war, that he opposed, in Iraq.

[warrens]

8. It's a three-parter

The good thing is, this is REAL mainstream, even moreso than, say, the WP or Newsweek. Some freeper heads is gonna esplode.

[elehhhhna]

15. warrens, do they investigate WHY he was fragged?

[underpants]

21. Not that I have seen

Sorry to interrupt

From what I have seen it mostly is focused on his football career and his family's aggravation since he was killed.

:shrug:

[blm]

18. I absolutely believe the same - not only did he intend to speak out, but

he was also telling other soldiers to vote for Kerry, and that he was going to support Kerry when he returned home.

Gee - - what would BushInc do to make sure that didn't happen?

[underpants]

20. I usually resist such things

but this hit me on a run a few weeks ago. What better place to do it.

I don't know who James Buchanan is ( google search turned up nothing) and I have no idea why one conservative commentator might possibly be needed to agree with you on anything but I did find this. I hadn't seen this mention even here on DU.

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=6452

[blm]

23. Of course they would do it. Tillman could have turned 5 million more votes

just by telling the truth about what was going on in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he would have had plenty of airtime to do it. And if the newsmedia would have limited his camera time, the sportsmedia would have given him plenty, and straight at Bush's main demographic.

He probably would have become the keynote speaker at the Dem convention, too. It would have been alot harder to steal the election with even more buzz.

The last thing Bush needed was Tillman telling the truth about the war and Kerry in office opening the books on BushInc.

[PaDem]

9. This should be interesting.........

ESPN has quite a broad cross section of viewers.

[Mandate My Ass]

10. now ESPN doing the job our congress and MSM have failed to do

What a disgrace!

And yes, I also heard he kept a detailed diary ranting about the war in Iraq and how he strenuously opposed it and planned to spread the word. It was burned along with his body armor, IIRC. :grr:

[flamin lib]

12. Honored to K&R #5.

[tom_paine]

13. Yet another murder by Busheviks unpunished

Yawn. That would be about #142,165, if you include all Bushevik victim of all nationalities.

That's a respectable total among murderous Tyrants. Sure, it's not as much as Hitler or Stalin, but the Bushevikls have to start somewhere, don't they?

Hell, I'll bet poor Pat Tillman's killer has already been promoted...TWICE!

[K8-EEE]

16. ESPN & Comedy Central Investigate Where "News" Won't Touch

Jeez....

[ComerPerro]

25. sad, isn't it?

[wicket]

19. They burned his uniform!!!!

His own "brothers" burned his uniform to cover what they'd done :grr: :grr: :grr: