On Sunday’s 60 Minutes, Katie Couric explored the unanswered questions that still surround Pat Tillman’s death more than 4 years after he was killed in a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan.
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Download | Play Full report on the 60 Min website.
One part that stands out is when Couric asks Pete Geren, the new Secretary of the Army, about eyewitness statements that had been altered to falsely show that Tillman had been engaged with the enemy at the time of his death. He replied, “Well, that’s one of the questions that we will never completely answer.” That’s a telling statement because the Bush administration has exerted executive privilege over “certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting” because they claim they would “implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests.” Last August, when pressed directly about it, President Bush avoided making any promise to ever come clean about what really happened.
While Pat Tillman’s mother Mary continues to press for the truth that remains hidden from her family and the public, which she has chronicled in her just-released book, Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman, his widow, Marie, would like people to focus more on Pat’s life, not his death, and has worked behind the scenes helping to ensure that “Pat’s legacy lives on through education and helping others effect social change” through The Pat Tillman Foundation and through the yearly Pat’s Run, which continues to grow as it drew thousands over the past few weeks at the 4th annual event in Tempe and San Jose (video).
The Pat Tillman story is a complicated one that can waveringly or even simultaneously bring about the strongest feelings of pride in one’s country and shame in its government. This much is true: No man ever sacrificed more for his country than Pat Tillman did, and no cover-up could ever cover that up.
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“No man ever sacrificed more for his country than Pat Tillman did”.
Um, well that is perhaps a little over the top. I think plenty have- and continue to- sacrifice as much as Pat Tillman did. Nevertheless, the story is as inspiring as it is absolutely disgraceful.
I couldna watch it
Due to the National Tragedy
That goes by the name
katie couric.
I wonder what terrible facts the Bush administration is hiding in this case ?
Screwing over “real American heroes” will not play well in Peoria.
That is…until they are forced to admit they’re role at which point we will no doubt learn that Tillman was a gay Muslim pedophile.
Who knew ?
He was killed by his own troops. The only question is whether it was an honest accident in the fog of war, or another Cheney inspired hit job (like all his suicidal hookers e.g.) to take out a high profile spokesman who wanted to tell Americans the truth.
Enjoy.
I find it surprising that the White House argues that because they are involved in his death and cover up, that they must continue the cover up. Then even more surprising that this hasn’t turned into a real stink for the White House.
But I guess in a cesspool, no particular turd stand out.
His last words should be immortalized.
“Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God’s not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling …”
The World is a Ghetto
Weaseldog @ 6:
Good analogy … Where’s the Flush Handle?
What happened?
Look,-the war(s) are a lie. He was yet another poor soul duped into believing he was serving some greater good….they are serving fat cats who’s job it is to make money off the blood of the uniformed.
Regarding Tillman’s death, the Pentagon only had pat answers.
“No man ever sacrificed more for his country than Pat Tillman did…”
Remember Pat Tillman made the choice not only to die for his country but to KILL for his country.
How many innocent people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11?
Those who dedicate their lives to non-violent solutions are the ones we should be honoring. Until we change our perspective on what is noble and truthful we will continue to go down the road of war and violence.
Get your official Pat Tillman “Proud to Die for Your Shitty Gas Mileage” cards here:
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.....-suvs.html
They go great just inside the fuel doors of SUVs.
Today I had an interesting conversation with two Thai Doctors and a Nurse in the Bar of the PornPing Hotel here in Chiang-Mai. They all wanted to know if Bush would leave office when the voting was complete or whether (I thought) he would stage another False Flag Attack on US soil to cause military rule.
I thought this was very interesting coming from intellectuals in a country other than the US.
One of the doctors had just come back from a vacation in Hawaii and California and said that there were people in the US that seem to think this.
You best turn off your TV’s people and start DOING SOMETHING.
I don’t know what happened but I do know the military tried to cover it up and continues to do so, so that leads us all to imagine the unimaginable. If the truth is any less than that, why are they continuing to allow it to be a mystery?
There is no mystery about Tillman’s death. It was a cover up, plain and simple. Another stain on Bush’s terrible legacy, and of course Ours.
We must have state secrets to protect the
Bush Admingovernment.Behold, Bushies legacy and ain’t he proud. Only a psychopathic liar would be proud of their lies. Sickening I tell you.
Maybe in 50 or so years the very reasons that this administration gave that lead to Pat Tillman’s enlistment and deployment to Afghanistan will be shown to be on big huge false flag operation. I should say I hope that the truth will finally be uncovered because the rewriting of history has begun and is in full steam ahead.
echo Says: That is…until they are forced to admit they’re role at which point we will no doubt learn that Tillman was a gay Muslim pedophile.
No need for that - he was an avowed atheist. SO much worse.
Maybe what got him killed was one too many remark not extolling the virtue of the great and terrible Oz. Those Ozites have a very short fuse and a violent temperament I am told.
No man ever sacrificed more for his country than Pat Tillman did
How so? Back that statement up please.
Who’s Pat Tillman? If he wasn’t on American Idol, I don’t care!
ysbaddaden @ 3:
amen…can’t watch her, no way no how
marko @ 22:
It’s a statement. One of those things that you can not answer with a yes or a no.
Where’s the finality we are searching for?
NOWHERE
The 60 minutes piece was a bit unsettling in that it didn’t really come off as a tear-jerker sympathy bit, nor did it lay blame on the administration. Seemed to be another fluff piece that steered clear of indicting Rumsfeld and the higher-ups. Katie sat there with a blank stench-mug asking stupid questions like, “How did this make you feel?” Or, “What would Pat have thought of the spectacle made of his remembrance services?”
Is anyone surprised that CBS didn’t dig into the why of the story? Because the “why” is another thread leading directly to Karl Rove and his gang of propogandists.
Shame of CBS for wasting the opportunity to shed light on this evil bunch.
roger @ 12:
Roger that, Roger! Spot on! But, see we are not supposed to talk about that type of reality in this country, especially whe it comes to our military. Now, join me and the rest of my fellow Americans in this chorus… “He died with his boots on!”
From what I understand, several members of Tillman’s group were overtly religious. And also, Tilman stated his displeasure about the Iraq War. I can’t believe it’s been four years. The Bush years seem like a horrible surreal nightmare.
brithumeistheantichrist @ 26:
The processing and deployment of information (sometimes misidentified as “knowledge”) is the only thing the media does well.
P.D. @ 28:
We’re entering a dark period of history that isn’t going away for while.
roger @ 12:
They both should be honored. You and I are standing on the shoulders of both the warriors and the peacemakers.
Well, at least CBS ran with this story. Meanwhile, we are subjected with endless coverage of Wright, Hillary, and Obama. How much does Buchanan make? Jesus, he is on MSNBC constantly! Like I want to hear his opinion. I guess after the primary tomorrow will get some closure. Yeah, right!
I feel bad for Pat Tillman and his mother because his mother will never know all of the facts surrounding her son’s death and the Bush Administration will make sure of that. Whatever the Bush Administration’s involvement, you can be sure that those facts will be buried never to see the light of day again.
I think the Bush Administration was attempting to make Pat Tillman, the handsome football star that gave up everything for their cause into something like a modern day, American version of Achilles or Hercules. He was to be the American “face” of what they see as a worldwide glorious, noble pursuit. When the facts started to leak out about the actual cause of Tillman’s death and the cover up was seen the Bush Administration dropped Pat Tillman like an old shoe because the image they wanted him to represent to the world was shattered. He was used and thrown away, just like everyone else when the Bush Administration saw him as no longer being useful.
DOW down 100 points.
roger @ 12:
You have a point. However, things are no so easily summed up. Pat like many of his soldier buddies were manipulated and deeply deceived into believing a horrible lie- add fanatical Muslim extremist suicide bombers and we have a very ugly tragic mess.
Most soldiers go into service because there is history within their family and/or close friends- and they feel they are committing their duty in fighting for freedoms which do not exist- however they believe freedom is what they are in fact fighting for.
This is quite noble up to the point they realize they have been duped.
Soldiers are not prescient people and were not able to see the Bullshit of 9/11 as it was happening- so naturally they waited to be told what occurred.
What I gather for all the interviews and articles is that Pat figured things out only after he actually toured there- he was killed then turned into an American Hero martyr- which is NOT the first time this has happened- but it is the first time the negative reaction to this disgusting publicity stunt was thrown into the face of the American Public.
Katie Couric is an opportunistic bitch making a desperate grab for ratings by supporting the expose of the ugly truth- where was this barbie doll c*nt when this story broke the first time?
Now that is the question people should be asking as it speaking volumes as to the real mass deception being perpetrated on a gullible American public.
The upside is- Americans are waking up to a horrible sham. Lets not loose focus by besmirching Pat Tillman’s name simply because he was gullible enough to whipped up into a patriotic frenzy to defend a government actions by world leaders who could not give two shits to Sunday about him and his family and any of us for that matter.
Mr. Tillman was a good hearted man stupid enough to believe authorities. And Katie Couric is a pathetic automaton who has lost all credibility- if she had any to begin with!
Further, in-depth reportage on Pat Tillman by Stan Goff– “The Tillman Files”:
www.fromthewilderness.com/free.....ml#tillman
One of the best road maps to what happened to date.
–mf
L.A. Confidential @ 7:
my words exactly!
P.D. @ 34:
Just another day of profit taking and setting up the next pump and dump.
Well I can’t fritter the rest of my life away.
I’ll check in later.
What in the fucking hell does that mean ?
Was Tillman invading Afghanistan all by himself ?
Was he given the task of sniping Heads of State ?
What a fucking bunch of bullshit in typical Chimpy and Co fashion …………….
roger @ 12:
Extremely well said. Americans and liberals in particular would do well to heed what Roger has said. Pat Tillman did not fight for his country. He ended up. like I did in Vietnam, trying to justify the lies that he was given by his government. Tillman began to question U.S. foreign policy by reading Noam Chomsky. Perhaps this is what may have led to his death. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the U.S. military wanted to silence Tillman because he perhaps began to realize that the U.S. had no right invading Iraq and Afghanistan, countries which never posed any remote threat at all to anyone in these United States. The last thing that the military desires to have happen is for the rank and file, as well as the officer corps, to question the government.
It is always instructional to recall the closing lines of Bertolt Brecht’s poem, General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle:
General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.
That is the one thing that the military is most terrified of, that its members would have the audacity to think for themselves by saying NO to war. The best way to halt a war is to have it happen from within.
L.A. Confidential @ 38:
Fritter? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 14:
Hard to say, really. Given that he’s been quietly moving his pawns into place with laws like 109-364 which gives him all the incentive he needs to send the Texas national guard into Pennsylvania at his whim or the Executive order (Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq ) which allows him to confiscate property and assets on his own whim or the legal opinions by John Yoo that allow him to suspend Habeas Corpus, or the opinion by Mr. Scalia of the Supreme Court that says torture is only illegal if it’s used as punishment not in the extraction of information, or all of the legal maneuvering to prevent courts from hearing cases involving terrorists or suspected terrorists… it shouldn’t be that difficult to see the growing pattern of consolidation of all power in the executive branch.
Why bother consolidating that power only to lose it in a legal election? (Which, I might add, the Republicans know they’re going to lose). When you can just fake a terror attack and suspend elections indefinitely? Hell, what’s to stop them from letting the election occur and then just assassinating whoever wins (Except John McSame of course) and using THAT as a pretext to suspend Constitutional government. It’s not as though this sort of thing hasn’t happened before. It’s not as though the Government hasn’t discussed plans like this before. Almost every President since it’s inception has opposed the 22nd Amendment since it’s inception and since Bush has no problem crossing out whatever sections of the Constitution he doesn’t like why would getting out his red pen there phase him? If he really wanted to he could just declare anyone who voted Democrat to be a terrorist and he’d get away with it. Because the wingnuts who follow Coulter would support him, he’d have control over around 50% of the military to back him up and no court in the land has the jurisdiction to stop him because it’s all classified information. You can’t fight against classified information in open court and if you’re in a closed court the gov can say and do essentially anything they want. You’re in their ballpark playing by their rules… and of course that’s assuming you’d ever really get a court date. People have been held as material witnesses in the GWOT for five years without any rights. Terrorist or not, criminal or not Jose Padilla was an American citizen and his rights were violated without care or consequence. If his can be yours can be too.
Bush may very well see it as a simple ‘Continuity of Government’ plan completely within his power to do and because our Congress is too cowardly and stupid to take any real action he’ll get away with it until the Pentagon makes a simple decision: Stick with Bush or Stick with the Constitution. If the Pentagon sides with Bush, Civil War Part II will begin. If the Pentagon sides with the Constitution Civil War Part II would still begin but it would be a lot shorter.
So you see, the future isn’t entirely clear. Bush could decide he is the supreme emperor of the United States and not want to leave. Or he could be entirely fed up with this country and it’s petulant serfs who don’t want to do what he says and could be ready to head off to his Paraguayan estate.
Guess we’ll find out in November.
roger @ 12:
i love your eloquent perfectly crafted post!! thank you!!
Ka