On Pat Tillman's "coverup"/punishments? Is this a battle for control over the military?

[cascadiance]

Just released a while ago are reports that some generals and other officers are being punished in the Pat Tillman situation by the Pentagon. Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, has expressed disatisfaction with these actions as being inadequate. Given that it looks like a big chunk of the military was involved in this mess and subsequent coverup, and that they are likely the chain of very loyal Bushites in the military's chain of command, I wonder if the reason why we're getting the executive privilege claims of secrecy over this, and that the results penalize most severely a general that has already retired, that if we might be seeing a wrestling for control of the chain of command of our military.

Perhaps Bushco realizes if the full details were to be released of this incident, they'd lose a huge chunk of their loyalists in the military, and open it up to being more of a potential BLOCK to them doing any kind of martial law scheme following a "terrorist incident" that so many of us have been concerned about the last few weeks that might throw out our elections, etc.

Up until this point, we've seen many good generals resigning and speaking up outside of the military about abuses and a rejection of the president's leadership over it. Now Bush has his loyal folks at the top of the heap there, which had me concerned that waiting for those that weren't friends of Bush to leave as part of his plan to prepare for martial law if it were at some point to come to that. Now the Pat Tillman incident might throw a wrench into that, if it exposes a big chunk of that "loyal" group as being part of this incident, and trigger a demand for their ouster.

In short folks, I think the congress should be ADAMANT for a full accounting of who all was part of this coverup incident, and not just accept a set of "scapegoated individuals" being punished as an acceptable resolution to this issue. It might also be about making sure that our military forces are managed by people that put the will of the people in front of the cabal that's in charge of our government now, which could be SO important if the concerns of Paul Craig Roberts, etc. have any truth to them at all!

From:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0726tillman-punishment26-on.html

Star army general faces demotion in the death of Pat Tillman

Associated Press
Jul. 26, 2007 08:32 AM
WASHINGTON - Army Secretary Peter Geren is expected to recommend that a retired three-star general be demoted for his role in providing misleading information about the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, military officials say, in what would be a stinging and rare rebuke.

Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, who headed Army special operations, is one of six high-ranking Army officers expected to get official reprimands for making critical errors in reporting the circumstances of Tillman's purported friendly-fire shooting in Afghanistan in April 2004.

The officials requested anonymity because the punishments under consideration by Geren have not been made public. The Army said that no final decisions have been made, and that once they are and the Tillman family and Congress have been notified, there will be an announcement sometime next week.

Geren also is considering issuing a letter of censure to Kensinger, who is receiving the harshest punishment of those involved in what has become a three-year controversy that triggered more than half a dozen investigations. Five other officers, including three generals, are expected to be issued less severe letters criticizing their actions.

Army officials opted not to impose harsher punishments, which could have included additional demotions, dishonorable discharges or even jail time. One senior officer, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, escaped punishment.

Tillman's mother, Mary, said the impending punishments were inadequate.

...

[frogcycle]

1. agreed

frankly, we need to persist on every front there is.

We need to be like the birds in Alfred Hitchcock's movie.

Somewhere we find the chink in the armor that brings them down.

IMO:
There is every possibility that Tillman was "taken out" by one or more mercenary snipers (or active duty, but less likely)

He was sent from Iraq to Afghanistan for that purpose.

The coverup was already in play before the event.

Keep chipping away, find someone involved who will "turn", trace it all the way to bush/cheney - game over.

[cascadiance]

2. Even if we don't use it to nail Bush and Cheney, if we can stop a coup, that would be worth it!

My biggest fear is the scenario that Paul Craig Roberts has diagrammed to Thom Hartmann's listeners and in his recent editorial piece that has been published in a number of places.

Even if we can't do impeachment, which I hope we can do as well, we NEED to make sure that they can't ride out the clock and play a "coup" card at the end. If we can trim Bush's control of the military by forcing out what might be his most loyal lieutenants there (and NOT just accept the punishments that his hierarchy wants to "give" us), then perhaps we can chop out that chain of command they might view as essential to carrying out any sort of plot that they might have in mind, and hopefully have a modern day Smedley Butler stand up to them instead!

Even if this isn't being planned, I think we should pursue outing all of those responsible for this incident as an "insurance policy" on this.

[cascadiance]

3. They seemed baffled on Olberman why * would use executive privilege in this case...

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/but-whyolbermann-executive-privilege-in-pat-tillman-case-video/