Posted on 03/04/2006 1:15:22 PM PST by Glenn
Edited on 03/04/2006 1:43:51 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Defense Department inspector general has directed the Army to open a criminal investigation into the death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, CNN learned on Saturday.
Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004, during a ground convoy assault not far from Khowst, Afghanistan, near the eastern border with Pakistan. Two other coalition soldiers were wounded in the ambush and an Afghan militia force soldier was killed.
The Army in May of 2004 determined that Tillman, 27, was probably killed by gunfire from his own unit during the intense firefight.
"The end of neo-conservative denial, innocence and naivete for one."
Please explain.
Oh yes, MSM hype. Somehow the MSM 'convinced' the Defense Department to reopen an old case. All with just hype.
Good grief.
Look, folks... We've known from just about the day after he was killed that it was most probably friendly fire. Regrettable, of course. Heartbreaking, naturally. But it does happen and at some level is practically inevitable.
Negligence? Well... of course... if somebody is killed accidently it means that somebody was probably not paying attention to the right thing at the right time. This *too* is inevitable.
Intentional... would be another matter altogether, and if there is evidence that causes re-opening of the case, so be it.
But beyond that, there is no political angle to the story.
Couldn't agree more
In the MSM usage, a neo-con is generally a Jewish conservative.
In both actual number and percentage of total, there were far fewer draftees in Vietnam than there were in WWII.
Indeed. But not to go there would be much worse. For the Army, for the Country, and for Tilman's family.
It's not like pistols, matching high velocity slugs is much more difficult. If it was a .50, I doubt it was even recovered. That's also quite likely with 5.56 or 7.62x51.
Tell me that the part about the ambulance isn't true. Safety is still important, even in a war zone, where for a period we lost as many to accidents as to enemy fire. The MPs were just doing their job with most of the tickets, but they are supposed to escort and clear the way for ambulances.
What's your theory? That the military just got around to investigating the most talked about "friendly fire" incident in the last 30 years?
I just got out of the Army after nine years and five back surgeries.
One thing I can say is that there are ALOT, and I mean ALOT, of people there who are on a MAJOR 24/7, 365 power trip. People who's sole existence seems to be looking for any possible way they can nail someone for something. It is definitely one aspect of it all that I will most certainly not miss.
Well said.
The military already investigated it. However they re-opened it for some reason. They must have had a valid reason. Somehow I don't think the Defense Department is going to base its decisions on what a journalist thinks. I don't see the problem with it.
A neo-con is a conservative who supports Israel.....of couse a conservative who does not support Israel is an anti-semite.....unless of course he's a college professor where any criticism of him would of course be McCarthyism.
The info in your local paper mostly came from Tillman's mother who has been working for years to get to the bottom of this. They are low-profile people not associated with the antiwar movement. Here is a link to the original SF Chronicle article:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/25/MNGD7ETMNM1.DTL
"But it does happen and at some level is practically inevitable."
What has occurred or what will occurred does not diminish the fact that he did volunteer, and did desire to contribute to his country's security. If you live by the sword (employed in the business of arms), you can die by the sword. Its a fact. Most people that joined because they want their college education paid for only, got a rude awakening. Especially seeing their fellow buddy's blown to hell. We are at war. Repeter Moi, We are at war. Tillman was done with college, he had a promising lucractive career. How many of your co-workers or buddies just up quit and became a ranger. They didn't just give the ranger beret to him, he earned it. And as many as Tillmans there are, God love them, there are hundreds of other promising people (high school valedictorians, newly weds, new fathers )they have paid the same sacrifice. War isn't pretty and it isn't hollywood. God bless his family and the love of country that his parents instilled in him. But we have to move forward and finish it. Problem with this country is we cleaned up the debris and body parts too quickly in NYC. People are forgetting and are crying about allowing the govt to listen in if you are making a collect call to Falluja. They are out they planning to hit us AGAIN! Let them investigate and let it go where it does. So what? Let the parents have peace. Not every death can be heroic, though we wish they were, and few.
A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the new investigation has not been formally begun, said it would focus on possible charges of negligent homicide.
link to beitbart.com news
Negligent homicide is different than murder...
Most of the MPs I saw over there, active duty, reserve, or guard, were busy manning the gates, running the prisons, or performing security at hi profile locations.
When Toby Keith and Ted Nugent visted our camp, they had a ring of MPs around them, with locked and loaded weapons to protect them from everyone who had gathered in the mess tent to hear them sing. I don't think it mattered a whole lot that everyone had to clear their weapons before entering the mess tent, they were still locked and loaded, acting like they were guarding the President instead of Toby Keith and the Motor City Madman.
Occasionally, some of the MPs would go out on convoy, doing a prisoner transport, but that was mostly done by helicopter, so it wasn't a normal occurence.
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