PAT TILLMAN: ACTIONS AND SOME REACTIONS

Opening the investigation into the combat death in Afghanistan of NFL defensive back Pat Tillman, Chairman Henry A. Waxman of the House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform said about fatalities there and in Iraq,

Each death has its own compelling story. Each brought incalculable grief for the soldier’s family and friends. And each is a tragic and irreplaceable loss for our country.

"We owe it to the Tillman family — and to the American people — to get the answers to these fundamental questions." In today’s hearing we will continue our investigation of the misinformation surrounding the death of one of those soldiers … Corporal Pat Tillman.

We’re focused on Corporal Tillman’s case because the misinformation was so profound and because it persisted so long. 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 for many other casualties.

To date there have been seven investigations into Corporal Tillman’s case. Yesterday the Army announced sanctions against six officers. But important questions still remain unanswered.

Before the hearing, the White House offered accomodations to the Committee in line with a previous Committee letter to Presidential Counsel Fred Fielding. The letter discussed problems of the method, manner, and means for securing statements and testimony from White House staff, and for amicably identifying documents and then including or excluding them from Committee scrutiny-- no easy task

At the hearing itself Tillman's surviving brother swore

April 2004 was turning into the deadliest month to date in the war in Iraq. … American commanders essentially surrendered Fallujah to members of Iraq resistance. … In the midst of this, the White House learned that Christian Parenti, Seymour Hersh, and other journalists were about to reveal a shocking scandal involving massive and systemic detainee abuse in a facility known as Abu Ghraib. … Revealing that Pat’s death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster during a month already swollen with political disasters and a brutal truth that the American public would undoubtedly find unacceptable. So the facts needed to be suppressed and alternative narrative had to be constructed. … This freshly manufactured narrative was then distributed to the American public and we believe the strategy had the intended effect. It shifted the focus from the grotesque torture at Abu Ghraib … to a great American who died a hero’s death.

Links to the Committee's Tillman Proceedings.

Related links:
The Army Acts.

The Media Reacts:
What did the Army know, and when,    ABC TV,    Washington Post,    Arizona Republic,    Kansas City Star.

MORE:
Other NowPublic Tillman Stories