New releases of information suggest that this may have been the case. Tillman, a courageous, patriotic pro football hero was coming out against the war. If he spoke out to the media, attacking the war and the Bush administration it would have been devastating to US support for the Iraq war and the 2004 campaigns of George W. Bush and his Republican supporters. Tillman, if he'd returned home from his tour of duty, only to get on the speaking stump, opposing the war and supporting John Kerry and his Democratic fellow candidates, could have made a huge difference.
Now, AP, in an article with a strangely weak, non-descript headline article, reports that Tillman may have been intentionally killed. The military has finally released a 2300+ page report which provides what appears, to this writer, to be clear evidence that this coverup went beyond just hiding the fact that Tillman was not killed by enemy fire, but fare worse, horrifically, that he was very likely intentionally killed by US fire and that this crime was then covered up, very likely with the decision made to cover up at the highest levels.
Mostly Ignored by the MSM
Not surprisingly, this huge story is not being given the attention it deserves by the lamestream media. CNN's top story today is drunk astronauts, and of course, the latest drug abusing celebrity. The Wall Street Journal didn't carry the story at all (just imagine what the WSJ will be like once Murdoch gets his hands on it.) Keith Olbermann did jump on it, discussing it with Gen. Wesley Clark.
The New York Times doesn't even cover the AP story, merely noting, in a page 20 brief article, that there weill be demotions. They do have an editorial supporting Henry Waxman's investigation into the role of the Whitehouse in the coverup of Tillman's real cause of death. But they totally ignore the real story-- that there was suspicion of murder and that the military lawyers gloated about covering it up.
The Washington Post doesn't list any reference to Tillman on their websites list of "A" section articles. But at least they list the AP article on their site.
"The report also states that "No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene - no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck."
The article also reveals that "Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments."
So there was no evidence whatsoever of friendly fire, but the ballistics data clearly indicated that the three head shots had been fired from just 10 yards away and then the Army tried to concoct a hoax friendly fire story and sent gloating back-slapping e mails congratulating each other on their success while preventing the doctors from exploring the possibility of murder. How can any sane and rational individual weigh this evidence and not come to the conclusion that Tillman was deliberately gunned down in cold blood?
The evidence points directly to it and the motivation is clear - Tillman abandoned a lucrative career in pro-football immediately after 9/11 because he felt a rampaging patriotic urge to defend his country, and became a poster child for the war on terror as a result. But when he discovered that the invasion of Iraq was based on a mountain of lies and deceit and had nothing to do with defending America, he became infuriated and was ready to return home to become an anti-war hero.
As far back as March 2003, immediately after the invasion, Tillman famously told his comrade Spc. Russell Baer, "You know, this war is so fucking illegal," and urged his entire platoon to vote against Bush in the 2004 election. Far from the gung-ho gruff stereotype attributed to him, Tillman was actually a fiercely intellectual man with the courage of his convictions firmly in place.
Tillman had even begun to arrange meetings with anti-war icons like Noam Chomsky upon his return to America before his death cut short any aspirations of becoming a focal point for anti-war sentiment.
THere's more-- more in the AP report that makes this look like a coverup of intentional murder. The AP article states,
The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.
and, as if that wasn't enough,
Among other information contained in the documents:
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
To learn more about me and OpEdNews.com, check out this article.
and there are Rob's quotes, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived on www.whiterosesociety.org Or listen to it streaming, live at either www.wnjc1360.com or here.
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
Can it be that our government is this sick? I believe that there is NO limit to the crimes that are done in our name. For me, nothing less than cleaning out EVERY Congressman/woman who voted for this mess we are currently in is acceptable. ONE rotten apple (uh, that would be President Shit-for-Brains) is a given, how is it we got an entire barrel of em?
by
Roger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 359 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 2:27:21 PM
Hey .. when bush ..aka..shit for brains .. had his colonoscopy they were really looking in the right place for ..his brain!! So far without success. In his "brain" the left side doesnt know whats right and the right side doesnt know whats left!!
by
paulocurry (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 3:48:53 PM
Did Bush Admin Order Tillman Murdered to Silence Him?
Very likely assassinated by a private contractor hired by the Bush administration. After all there are more private contractors in Iraq than there are US troops. Plus the contractors are not accountable. If caught in any scandal or wrong doing they are sent back the the States, but not prosecuted.
by
Alan Scher (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 3:17:32 PM
The military, like the civilian population, has people on both sides of the political spectrum. I know there are plenty of gung ho, pro war types in the military, and they would be very upset if someone like Pat was sounding off against the war in their presence.
The main question now is, if he was fragged, was it spontaneous, or ordered? If it was ordered, then we need to follow the chain of command.
by
John R Moffett (80 articles, 14 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 607 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 2:55:08 PM
I love how you guys jump all over this story and when us " cry babies" bitched about the election fraud in Flordia and Ohio very few stood up with us because no one believed that something like screwing with the vote or ballots was posiable. How do we stand now. I think in time we're all going to prove our claims but it will be many years down the road. In the meantime their will be a lot of innocent and honest Republican Politicans that will suffer because of the group we have in Washington right now. When it happens we'll hear, " oh he's selling his book". A lot of them will be dead and buried with people putting the hero bit on their name. What I look forward to is the huge amount of money they each will be putting out with legal cost.
by
drasile (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 77 comments)
on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 9:40:38 AM
This is an almost fitting counterbalance to the Republican charges that HRC and Bill murdered, let's see, who? Hubble? Somebody. I forget. We can use it next year.
by
jmundstuk (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 3:07:07 PM
As the mother of a 23-year-old soon to be redeployed, thank you! thank you! thank you! I grieve with Tillman's mother and every mother who has a child in this immoral war. Many coming come back in body have lost parts of their soul.
I'm posting a link to this on-going story on my Web site: yorkgrassroots.org There are free Bush-Cheney impeachment postcards for download on my site. They are addressed to the House Speaker. Anyone is welcome to download the pdf file.
by
grassroots (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 39 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 3:27:17 PM
Intentional murder has been suspected since days within his death. I read about the family's concerns and the military's obfuscation years ago. This would have been exposed and dealt with long ago if only we had a brave, unembeded (to the White House) and intellectually curious media. Shame on all of them with their many resources and mass audience.
Now Bush and Company will blow this off like every other criminal act as "old news."
by
Kathlyn Stone (42 articles, 217 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 633 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 3:48:08 PM
Now, will we be able to impeach? Do you think this would be enough? When do we get to throw them all out on their asses? preferably to jail? Do you want me to contact the media or shall you? There is no doubt in my mind that they are all capable of this crime.When do we see this happen?
by
Caronome (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 219 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 4:06:01 PM
The major TV, Radio, and Newspapers are controlled by the same damn folks that control most everything else. No conspiracy, simply imperialism. Go to my web site, add backdoor.htm to the URL and you're in. I shut the main site entrance due to Executive Order of July 17th. But if you want to see a whole summer of work last year on who controls what, you have only to look. I even provide the links to where I got the information. Those that control these major corporations have a vested interest in starting and keeping the war going until we are reduced to complete economic slavery, as if we're not already there.
by
Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 217 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 4:51:34 PM
to further their aims of keeping the neocon right wing radicals in power forever and the American people know it. If we have another "terrorist" attack will Bush declare martial law, cancel the elections and declare himself president for life? He and his cronies have put all the elements in place to silence all opposition. No more Habeas Corpus and the government can seize all the assets of anyone they deem a "threat". Think about it folks.
by
macdon1 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 97 comments)
on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 10:12:35 PM
You pretty much nailed it. The “wild” rumors had been there for years. The official story of the patrol breaking into two groups, which then inadvertently came into visual contact at a distance at twilight and engaged not knowing who the other was seemed very much at odds with normal military procedure.
The whole thing stinks.
by
John R Moffett (80 articles, 14 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 607 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 5:03:16 PM
Let's keep this in perspective: It seems very likely that a secret cabal has penetrated and taken the upper hand inside our government and military, a silent coup perhaps. It seems very unlikely that the ENTIRE government has gone over to the dark side. So let's lay the blame where it belongs, with the cabal, whoever they may be.
A cabal? Well, it isn't something that just crawled out of the woodwork, it's been in the works for a very long time. Many prominent Americans have dropped "hints" but most of us have ignored them. Even Napoleon recognized the dark side: "Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain." Money buys power, power buys security, security protects the money stream. This is as old as human history. See: "LOBBYIST" Same basic idea.
So could Tillman really have been murdered? There would have to be a motive, and money is a pretty good motive. When you (might) cost someone a lot more money than it costs to have you eliminated... well, that's basic economics.
Follow the money trail, it's like a rainbow.
by
Co6aka (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 68 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 4:23:51 PM
YOU TOOK NAP'S WORD'S RIGHT OUT OF MY KEYBOARD. RIGHT ON. DID A PAPER ON THE SUBJECT OF FINANCIERS, INDUSTRIALISTS AND SCIENTISTS ALWAYS ENDING UP. WITHOUT A COUNTRY BUT DRIPPING IN CASH AND POSITION.
Everybody keeps saying "money". Why? Our rulers can simply take all the money they want out of treasury. Who or what's to stop them? Why risk WW3 over it? Why destroy yourself? Did John Dillinger do suicide missions? No. His object was to make money and live to spend it. The notion of "money" and/or "oil" as primary motive simply doesn't make sense.
What's happened in the U.S. is that, over the years, U.S. imperialists have built up an imperial presidency; each year ceding more and more power to the Executive at the expense of the other branches.
At the same time, the calculating imperialists have woven into our society the notion that the President (and by implication the "government" he represents) can essentially do no wrong...he's almost a deity. From the fairy tales taught in lieu of History in our schools, to the propagandistic "news" and entertainment that bombards us daily, that pervasive theme has been successfully implanted into our culture.
And now, bloodthirsty, delusional Jewish supremacist extremists have co-opted this dangerous, pre-existing imperial power structure, are expanding it, and are trying to us it to hammer out a new, Israel expansionist-hegemonist friendly MidEast.
These "people" are obviously prepared to murder millions of human beings if need be. 9/11 was nothing; a few thousand people dead...so what? That's nothing to them. The Tillman murder was even less than nothing to them. These "people" are criminally insane "people"...they are as delusional as they are evil. In fact words fail me when I try to describe the evil beings pushing this whole thing.
by
jpsmith123 (3 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 286 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 8:30:01 PM
The intentional killing of Mr. Tillman, if true, has nothing to do with the war in Iraq and everything to do with the Republicans fearing his voice could cost the Republicans a second term in office. Lets not directly associate Mr. Tillman's possible murder to the "Illegal" war in Iraq as that simply politicizes his murder A SECOND TIME.
In other words, murdering a soldier so they cannot voice their opinion about the war is an impeachable act but it has NO BEARING on the war in Iraq. In my opinion trying to link Mr. Tillman's death to Iraq weakens the severity of the issue because personal political motives have been layered into the cover-up.
by
Alessandro Machi (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 174 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 4:49:13 PM
I saw nothing in the posts or Rob's article that blamed the rank and file military or the war. They all seemed to point to an assassination which anyone could have done: Re: Could have been ordered, but if so whomever did so had gunk where brains are supposed to be. Could have been an envious soldier or officer, could have been a mercenary. No one knows at this point.
When I served there were looney's in my very company who got into to the death struggles with people in their own company. Criminal behavior is not exempt from being in uniform, but it could well have been a Hit, or a Mercenary envious of him, who knows? We may, but we also may never know the truth unless someone talks to avoid the death sentance.
The quote Rob quoted I found to incendiary in a partisan manner.
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"The notion that the U.S. government gave orders for Army top brass to execute Pat Tillman in cold blood is the most damaging indictment of the Iraq war since it began, trumping the lies about weapons of mass destruction tenfold, but if the establishment media continue to soft-peddle and steam-valve one of the biggest stories of the century its impact will be completely diluted."
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This has nothing to do with the Iraq war and everything to do with retaining the white house for the Republicans for a second term, and that is damning enough without linking it to the Iraq War.
by
Alessandro Machi (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 174 comments)
on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 7:12:43 PM
First thought in MY head when I heard that "Tillman - the Famous, Popular, Successful Football Star Who Gave Up A Lucrative Career In the Very Midst Of It To Go "FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM" --- was that 'uh-oh, there's a kid who doesn't know what he volunteered for... because if he LIKES killing innocent people, they'll be using him for RECRUITING purposes ~ OR ~ if he figures out that he's there TO kill innocent people and he decides to TELL the kids at home "Don't enlist, it's NOT what we were led to believe" - then they'll 'HAVE' fragg him and call it enemy fire.... because a football hero might really put a crimp in their recruitment numbers.
MANY of the kids who have been refusing to RE-deploy ARE AFRAID TO BECAUSE OF EXACTLY THAT REASON!
...but it's NOT so far fetched as it first appears !!!
Read about the SSB... the SUPER SECRET AGENCY that Rumsfeld created, SOOO secret that even Wash Post article re: SSB READ this and you'll SEE FOR YOUSELF that there is VERY GOOD REASON to believe that the "insurgents" and the "bombings" and especially the destruction of Mosques has been largely the work of the SSB - to stir and keep stirred the fighting! I truly believe it's the INTENTION to "de-populate" Iraq as much as possible. What better way than by stirring up a "civil war" ??? This 'SSB' is like the 'SECRET CIA WITHIN the 'regular CIA - that Many believe assassinated JFK. It is ALSO like Hitlers OSS. It is more and more ev
