Sunday, September 25, 2005
Anatomy Of A Disgrace
Some readers may recall that I've written about Pat Tillman before. The San
Francisco Chronicle is out with this must-read article that updates the
story with new details. Some excerpts:
A Chronicle review of more than 2,000 pages of testimony, as well as
interviews with Pat Tillman's family members and soldiers who served with
him, found contradictions, inaccuracies and what appears to be the
military's
attempt at self-protection.
For example, the documents contain testimony of the first investigating
officer alleging that Army officials allowed witnesses to change key details
in their sworn statements so his finding that certain soldiers committed
"gross negligence" could be softened.
Interviews also show a side of Pat Tillman not widely known - a fiercely
independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country
yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq, where he
served a tour of duty. He was an avid reader whose interests ranged from
history books on World War II and Winston Churchill to works of leftist Noam
Chomsky, a favorite author.
The horrific description of his death at the hands of his fellow soldiers:
The soldier next to him testified: "I could hear the pain in his voice as
he called out, 'Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat f-ing Tillman, dammit." He
said this over and over until he stopped," having been hit by three bullets
in the forehead, killing him.
The soldier continued, "I then looked over at my side to see a river of
blood coming down from where he was...I saw his head was gone."
The political context of a deception:
Tillman's death came at a sensitive time for the Bush administration -
just a week before the Army's abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq
became public and sparked a huge scandal. The Pentagon immediately announced
that Tillman had died heroically in combat with the enemy, and President
Bush hailed him as "an inspiration on and off the football field, as with
all who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror."
His killing was widely reported by the media, including conservative
commentators such as Ann Coulter, who called him "an American original -
virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be." His May 3,
2004, memorial in San Jose drew 3,500 people and was nationally televised.
Not until five weeks later, as Tillman's battalion was returning home, did
officials inform the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed
by his fellow soldiers.
The fate of his superiors on the ground that day:
According to the documents and interviews, Capt. William Saunders, to whom
platoon leader Uthlaut had protested splitting his troops, was allowed to
change his testimony over a crucial detail - whether he had reported
Uthlaut's
dissent to a higher ranking commander. In initial questioning, Saunders said
he had done so, but when that apparently was contradicted by that
commander's
testimony, Saunders was threatened with perjury charges. He was given
immunity and allowed to change his prior testimony.
The regiment's commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bailey, was promoted to colonel
two months after the incident, and Saunders, who a source said received a
reprimand, later was given authority to determine the punishment of those
below him.
The handling of the physical evidence:
A soldier who on April 23 burned Tillman's bullet riddled body armor -
which would have been evidence in a friendly-fire investigation - testified
that he did so because there was no doubt it was friendly fire that killed
Tillman. Two days later, Tillman's uniform and vest also were burned because
they were soaked in blood and considered a biohazard. Tillman's uniform also
was burned.
And some interesting new background:
Yet other Tillman family members are less reluctant to show Tillman's
unique character, which was more complex than the public image of a gung-ho
patriotic warrior. He started keeping a journal at 16 and continued the
practice on the battlefield, writing in it regularly. (His journal was lost
immediately after his death.) Mary Tillman said a friend of Pat's even
arranged a private meeting with Chomsky, the antiwar author, to take place
after his return from Afghanistan - a meeting prevented by his death. She
said that although he supported the Afghan war, believing it justified by
the Sept. 11 attacks, "Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war."
Baer, who served with Tillman for more than a year in Iraq and
Afghanistan, told one anecdote that took place during the March 2003
invasion as the Rangers moved up through southern Iraq.
"I can see it like a movie screen," Baer said. "We were outside of (a city
in southern Iraq) watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an
old air base, me, Kevin and Pat, we weren't in the fight right then. We were
talking. And Pat said, 'You know, this war is so f- illegal.' And we all
said, 'Yeah.' That's who he was. He totally was against Bush."
Another soldier in the platoon, who asked not to be identified, said Pat
urged him to vote for Bush's Democratic opponent in the 2004 election, Sen.
John Kerry.
The extent of the disgrace defies belief: the initial coverup of the way
Tillman died, the harvesting of that death for political expedience as the
Abu Ghraib story broke, the predictable promotions of those arguably
responsible for what happened on the ground that day, the changing of
crucial testimony, the destruction of physical evidence, and the willful,
flat-out lies our political and military leadership told to Tillman's family
and the American public.
In the context of Tillman's strong and openly-stated opinions about Bush and
the war in Iraq, it's all more than a bit interesting.
Anatomy Of A Disgrace
Some readers may recall that I've written about Pat Tillman before. The San
Francisco Chronicle is out with this must-read article that updates the
story with new details. Some excerpts:
A Chronicle review of more than 2,000 pages of testimony, as well as
interviews with Pat Tillman's family members and soldiers who served with
him, found contradictions, inaccuracies and what appears to be the
military's
attempt at self-protection.
For example, the documents contain testimony of the first investigating
officer alleging that Army officials allowed witnesses to change key details
in their sworn statements so his finding that certain soldiers committed
"gross negligence" could be softened.
Interviews also show a side of Pat Tillman not widely known - a fiercely
independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country
yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq, where he
served a tour of duty. He was an avid reader whose interests ranged from
history books on World War II and Winston Churchill to works of leftist Noam
Chomsky, a favorite author.
The horrific description of his death at the hands of his fellow soldiers:
The soldier next to him testified: "I could hear the pain in his voice as
he called out, 'Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat f-ing Tillman, dammit." He
said this over and over until he stopped," having been hit by three bullets
in the forehead, killing him.
The soldier continued, "I then looked over at my side to see a river of
blood coming down from where he was...I saw his head was gone."
The political context of a deception:
Tillman's death came at a sensitive time for the Bush administration -
just a week before the Army's abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq
became public and sparked a huge scandal. The Pentagon immediately announced
that Tillman had died heroically in combat with the enemy, and President
Bush hailed him as "an inspiration on and off the football field, as with
all who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror."
His killing was widely reported by the media, including conservative
commentators such as Ann Coulter, who called him "an American original -
virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be." His May 3,
2004, memorial in San Jose drew 3,500 people and was nationally televised.
Not until five weeks later, as Tillman's battalion was returning home, did
officials inform the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed
by his fellow soldiers.
The fate of his superiors on the ground that day:
According to the documents and interviews, Capt. William Saunders, to whom
platoon leader Uthlaut had protested splitting his troops, was allowed to
change his testimony over a crucial detail - whether he had reported
Uthlaut's
dissent to a higher ranking commander. In initial questioning, Saunders said
he had done so, but when that apparently was contradicted by that
commander's
testimony, Saunders was threatened with perjury charges. He was given
immunity and allowed to change his prior testimony.
The regiment's commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bailey, was promoted to colonel
two months after the incident, and Saunders, who a source said received a
reprimand, later was given authority to determine the punishment of those
below him.
The handling of the physical evidence:
A soldier who on April 23 burned Tillman's bullet riddled body armor -
which would have been evidence in a friendly-fire investigation - testified
that he did so because there was no doubt it was friendly fire that killed
Tillman. Two days later, Tillman's uniform and vest also were burned because
they were soaked in blood and considered a biohazard. Tillman's uniform also
was burned.
And some interesting new background:
Yet other Tillman family members are less reluctant to show Tillman's
unique character, which was more complex than the public image of a gung-ho
patriotic warrior. He started keeping a journal at 16 and continued the
practice on the battlefield, writing in it regularly. (His journal was lost
immediately after his death.) Mary Tillman said a friend of Pat's even
arranged a private meeting with Chomsky, the antiwar author, to take place
after his return from Afghanistan - a meeting prevented by his death. She
said that although he supported the Afghan war, believing it justified by
the Sept. 11 attacks, "Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war."
Baer, who served with Tillman for more than a year in Iraq and
Afghanistan, told one anecdote that took place during the March 2003
invasion as the Rangers moved up through southern Iraq.
"I can see it like a movie screen," Baer said. "We were outside of (a city
in southern Iraq) watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an
old air base, me, Kevin and Pat, we weren't in the fight right then. We were
talking. And Pat said, 'You know, this war is so f- illegal.' And we all
said, 'Yeah.' That's who he was. He totally was against Bush."
Another soldier in the platoon, who asked not to be identified, said Pat
urged him to vote for Bush's Democratic opponent in the 2004 election, Sen.
John Kerry.
The extent of the disgrace defies belief: the initial coverup of the way
Tillman died, the harvesting of that death for political expedience as the
Abu Ghraib story broke, the predictable promotions of those arguably
responsible for what happened on the ground that day, the changing of
crucial testimony, the destruction of physical evidence, and the willful,
flat-out lies our political and military leadership told to Tillman's family
and the American public.
In the context of Tillman's strong and openly-stated opinions about Bush and
the war in Iraq, it's all more than a bit interesting.
