The reasons for Executive Privilege re Pat Tillman

[malaise]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4815441/
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U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Matthew Beevers said Saturday that Tillman was killed Thursday night in a firefight at about 7 p.m. on a road near Sperah, about 25 miles southwest of a U.S. base at Khost.

After coming under fire, Tillman’s patrol got out of their vehicles and gave chase, moving toward the spot of the ambush. Beevers said the fighting was “sustained” and lasted 15-20 minutes.


Beevers said Tillman was killed by enemy fire, but he had no information about what type of weapons were involved in the assault, or whether he died instantly.

An Afghan militiaman fighting alongside Tillman also was killed, and two other U.S. soldiers were wounded.

A local Afghan commander, Gen. Khial Bas, told The Associated Press that nine enemy fighters were killed in the confrontation.

Transcript of remarks by President Bush at the 2004 White House Correspondents Dinner, Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C.
May 1, 2004

http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/bushcomedian/a/bushwhca2004_2.htm
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The loss of Army Corporal Pat Tillman last week in Afghanistan brought home the sorrow that comes with every loss, and reminds us of the character of the men and women who serve on our behalf. Friends say that this young man saw the images of September the 11th, and seeing that evil, he felt called to defend America. He set aside a career in athletics and many things the world counts important: wealth and security and the acclaim of the crowds. He chose, instead, the rigors of Ranger training and the fellowship of soldiers and the hard duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Corporate Tillman asked for no special attention. He was modest because he knew there were many like him, making their own sacrifices. They fill the ranks of the Armed Forces. Every day, somewhere, they do brave and good things without notice. Their courage is usually seen only by their comrades, by those who long to be free, and by the enemy. They're willing to give up their lives, and when one is lost, a whole world of hopes and possibilities is lost with them.

A Pawn in their game (note the date of this article).
http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin04292004.html
When Pat Tillman walked away from the NFL to join the Army Rangers, rivulets of saliva flowed from the White House to the Defense Department. Here was the Arizona Cardinals' record setting safety turning his back on a $3.5 million contract to "fight the war on terror." Immediately Madison Avenue PR firms, hired by the Defense Department with our tax dollars, began churning out releases exalting "The American Athlete At War" replete with stories of Ted Williams's flying missions over the Pacific. The confederate confines of talk radio spoke of Tillman as "The "Real American Hero making "The Ultimate Sacrifice." One wonders if James Earl Jones had already been contracted to bleat, "Pat Tillman: An Army of One."

There was just one problem. Tillman wouldn't play their game. He turned down "hundreds if not thousands" of interviews and photo ops. He refused to be in any recruitment videos or on a single poster. Soon the story of "NFL player Pat Tillman in the Army Rangers" faded into the next news cycle. A year went by without a mention. No one tracked the day when his shoulder length hair was shaved to the scalp. No one snapped shots of his time in the "Army Ranger Indoctrination Program". No one knew about his first tour in Iraq. But last Friday in Afghanistan when Tillman was killed, the gears of the machine started to turn.

As Tillman’s family and football fans grieved, the Bush War Machine and their cronies sprang into action. In death, a compliant Tillman could prove far more useful to the Masters of War than in life.

In "Dead Tillman", the Washington Establishment finally gets a dead soldier they can cozy up to.

"Where do we get such men as these? Where to we find these people willing to stand up for America?" asked Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth, as he dived in front of the nearest camera. "He chose action rather than words. He was a remarkable person. He lived the American dream, and he fought to preserve the American dream and our way of life."

Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the son of the late Hall of Fame coach sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue asking the league to dedicate the season to Tillman and other U.S. soldiers ``serving in the war on terrorism.''

And of course Former Texas Rangers Owner George W. Bush jumped into the fray commenting that "Pat Tillman was an inspiration both on and off the football field".