Bringing Pressure to Bear
Won't you ever realize
You've got to hit between the eyes
You're wasting your lead
Aim for the head
--Aim for the Head, Send More Paramedics
________
Veterans' organization VoteVets.org issued the following press release today.
It requests full disclosure of all documents, including communiques between senior administration officials and the Pentagon. In the face of the memory erasure which Mr. Rumsfeld and assorted Generals are suffering in this case, the release of the documents seems imperative in order for a full and accurate accounting of events to transpire.
Mr. Rumsfeld's recent testimonial of non remembrance was particularly offensive, as he was the one who ballyhooed to the nation Pat Tillman's joining the military following 9-11. It is not likely the details of the death of their co-opted cause celebre would have slipped his mind.
________
AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ VETERANS CALL ON NFL,
PLAYERS ASSOCIATION,
TO GET INVOLVED IN TILLMAN PROBE
In letter, veterans say NFL and NFLPA need to call on President to release all documents
NEW YORK - Twenty veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq today wrote to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw, urging them to lend their voices to bi-partisan calls for the President to release all documents related to the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Tillman was a former NFL star with the Arizona Cardinals.
Below is an excerpt of that letter:
"We know that the National Football League is not in the business of partisan politics, nor should it be. However, in this case...the House committee requests were signed by both the Democratic Chairman and Republican Ranking Member, so this is not a partisan witch-hunt, but merely a quest to get to the truth about the death of Pat Tillman," wrote the veterans.
"The league and the Players Association both owe the Tillman family their full support in the family's pursuit of the truth. Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, has been quite vocal about her desire to see all materials released regarding her son's death, and the family has gone as far as expending its own money on private investigations. "
"Earlier in the month, the Associated Press obtained the medical examiner's finding at the time of his death in Afghanistan, that Corporal Tillman's fatal wounds seemed to indicate shots fired from ten yards away, or less. The doctors who examined Corporal Tillman urged a criminal investigation into his death be opened at that time, and were refused. Since that time, the Department of Defense has put forth two explanations for the death of Corporal Tillman. The first, that he was killed by enemy fire, has been disproven. A second, that he was killed by "friendly fire" from a far away convoy, seems to be disproven by the medical examiner's report.
"The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has sent a bi-partisan request for certain communications and documents from the White House regarding the death of Pat Tillman. The President has refused to grant their request, citing executive privilege.
"The administration has shared a number of documents with the committee, but has withheld a number of requested communications under the specious argument that sharing the documents would violate confidentiality among the President and his staff. For instance, the Committee has requested a number of communications between senior administration officials and the Pentagon, which may offer important details into the death of Corporal Tillman, and if there was an attempt to cover them up, by some in the Executive Branch. . ."
by Lisa
Labels: Pat Tillman, phony citation of executive privilege, votevets.org
posted by rangeragainstwar at 2:35 PM
4 Comments:
Tillman's family is in favor of releasing all documents -- if they did not, I would support the family. Since they are on the side of transparency, Bush Co., have no reason to withhold anything. It's not even about politics -- it's about truth and closure. His family deserves that, and so does the country.
d.k.,
Yes, the family has been pressing for years now. Let us hope the obfuscation is not about politics.
If it is as portrayed -- a tragic error, a matter of friendly fire, then let's have all the documentation.
There is too much sinister here: a coroner denied request of a CID investigation for a suspect bullet grouping; squad members who were released from the Army, now nowhere to be found.
Too many attempts to have people take the fall, and new paperwork juggernauts offered to cover up any future "errors," and an incorrect Silver Star awarded to hush up a family. It is unpalatable in its opacity.
--Lisa
The White House and Pentagon will stonewall this one for all it's worth. Not necessarily because the truth is sinister as in murder, but because of the obvious incompetence and mendacity at play throughout the chain of command. The stonewalling will likely work: Congress will ask for things, Bush will claim executive privilege, and then it will wend its way through the courts for some time.
FOIA won't work, because you can bet key documents are classified. One also doubts the NFL will choose to get involved, given the cozy relationship it has with the fed.
Maybe if the Tillman family goes all out for publicity. Maybe.
There are troubling aspects. Ten-meter separation, triple-tap dime group, hasty actions post-incident, e.g., burning clothing, etc. But, as Ranger pointed out on the earlier thread, it's kind of a stretch to think of this E4 being a target.
Just another day at the office for the low-lifes we've placed in positions of trust.
publius,
The intent of my comment re. E4's was to further suggest the nefarious nature of the Tillman incident.
E4s are not typically targeted for fragging; therefore, it is unlikely he was the victim of a frag incident.
Therefore, something else brought those three bullets in tight spread on his forehead.
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