Posted on 08/01/2007 5:43:05 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other former top Pentagon officials today said facts about Army Cpl. Patrick D. Tillman’s friendly-fire death were mishandled, but not covered up to make it seem he died from enemy fire. In his first visit to Capitol Hill since stepping down as defense secretary, Rumsfeld appeared with three Army generals before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to answers questions about the controversial case and to deny allegations that evidence was intentionally distorted.
Seven investigations into Tillman’s case revealed the Defense Department and Army responses to the fratricide were “badly handled, and errors were made,” Rumsfeld admitted.
“But in no instance has any evidence of a cover-up … been presented or put forward,” he said. “I know of nothing that suggests that.”
Joining Rumsfeld were retired Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, former commander of U.S. Central Command; and Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. The four offered condolences to the Tillman family and unanimously denied that a cover-up occurred.
Tillman, a former National Football League player, died when fellow soldiers accidentally shot and killed him near the Afghan-Pakistani border April 22, 2004. Initial reports, however, incorrectly stated the soldier was killed by enemy fire.
One week after Tillman’s death, Army Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the Joint Staff’s vice director for operations, sent a memo suggesting the soldier was not killed by insurgents. The memo went to Myers, Abizaid and Army Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, who commanded U.S. Army Special Operations Command at the time. McChrystal even recommended the generals inform President Bush the friendly-fire scenario was “highly possible.”
Tillman’s family did not learn that the soldier’s death was being investigated as a possible fratricide until the Defense Department announced five weeks later that Tillman died at the hands of fellow soldiers. According to Army policy, families are to be informed when there’s a possibility their loved one died from friendly-fire.
“(The Army) should have talked about the possibility of that as soon as they knew it,” Myers said.
Lawmakers today probed Rumsfeld and the generals on why the Defense Department failed to announce to Tillman’s family and the public the facts surrounding the former football star’s death until May 29, 2004, after the soldier had been awarded a posthumous Silver Star for “gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.”
“We’re focused on Pat Tillman’s case because the misinformation was so profound and because it persisted so long,” committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman said. “And if that can happen to the most famous soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, it leaves many families and many of us questioning the accuracy of information from many other casualties.”
The Army imposed sanctions on six officers yesterday, Waxman said, but congressional hearings are designed to answer important questions that remain unanswered.
At a Pentagon news conference yesterday, Army Secretary Pete Geren said a “perfect storm” of events initially obfuscated the case’s facts.
After reading a review of previous Tillman investigations performed by Army Gen. William S. Wallace, commander of U.S. Training and Doctrine Command, Geren said he decided to issue a letter of censure to Kensinger.
“I believe the buck stops with General Kensinger,” Geren said. “He was the senior leader in the chain of command for administrative control for the 75th Ranger Regiment.”
If the general “had performed his duty, we wouldn’t be standing here today,” Geren said.
Kensinger, who was invited to appear at today’s committee hearing, did not attend. A military panel will decide if Kensinger will lose a star and be demoted to major general.
Filthy rat congressmen are political grandstanding on the grave of this brave soldier. Repulsive and disgusting rats!
Accidents happen and the military is the most dangerous job there is. There was a time when the military would have quietly conducted an investigation to make sure it didn’t happen again.
Today, it’s not about prevention. What we’re seeing is a very public attempt at political retribution.
I know Pete Geren. He used to live down the street from us when he was a child. Comes from a really decent and nice family.
“fratricide” - Wouldn’t this imply deliberate murder?
No.
Not necessarily.
The important question isn’t whether this was friendly fire or not. The important question is whether this was deliberate murder or not.
Dont you know anything about a combat zone? Bullets are flying every which way. Fratricide, the deliberated killing of blood kin, is an unfortunate aand inaccurate description of what happened.
Pat Tillman was deliberately fragged to shut him up.
Intriguing charge.
If deliberate murder did happen, Sand Rat, could you handle the truth?
Shut him up about what? Specifics please if you’re going to throw a charge like that out here.
I want to add this to the Tillman debate:
If I’m the family of someone killed by ‘friendly fire’, I don’t want to know about it. It won’t bring back my loved one and it only makes the pain worse. Also FF incidents are hard on troop morale.
Of course the msm, kos etc., will portray FF as murder, when it was really an accident.
Good troll bait thread!
If, in the case of your family member, it was deliberate murder, and not an accident, would you want justice?
It is one thing to say that you would not want the details in the case of a true accident. It is something else to say that it is okay to let murder go unpunished.
There are a whole bunch of people that we know are against the war so why hasn't Bush had them killed?
As far as I've ever heard - from other than moonbat sources - it was an accident - the authorities thought it was an accident so of course I would not want the authorities to inform me that he had been accidentally shot, blown up etc. by his comrades. That would only make it hurt all the more.
When my brother was killed, an acquaintance actually asked me if he suffered. G-d, believe me, I would not want to know that!
It's easy to demand full disclosure because you have a political agenda or haven't been there, but if it was an accident, the compassionate thing to do is say nothing.
If the pattern of holes in his skull do indicate deliberate murder (and I think they might), then I do not think it was George W. Bush. Rather, I think it would have been someone more in the mold of Tim McVeigh or Charles Graner.
But, really, first things first. First, they should disclose whether the bullet holes are close enough together in his skull to raise suspicions of deliberate foul play. If the holes are not that close, then case closed as far as the public is concerned.
It is only if and when the bullet hole pattern suggests murder that we should start inquiring about who did the hit.
You have to take these issues in the correct order, I think.
I'm happy to shine some family light on the subject.
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