First posted at My Left Wing
At first, Rummy backed off, claiming that he had a prior commitment.
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Now, he’s on. And not only him.
Wanna bet they’ve been strong-armed?
Generals Abizaid, Brown and Myers are going to be testifying before Rep. Henry Waxman’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the circumstances–as they understand them–regarding the murder by ‘friendly fire’ of Corporal Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.
They’ve had to issue a subpoena for fall guy Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger to appear, but it’s unconfirmed as to whether he will show up.
You know, all Rummy has to do is talk nice–and tell the truth. But it’s going to be impossible for him to do two things like that at the same time. I have no doubt that the brass are going to buck pass with a vengeance, if what Lt. Col. Peters says above is true. It won’t be a cakewalk.
Said the Army Times tersely:
The [Waxman] committee’s announcement came hours after Army officials released findings from an investigation by a four-star general into officers in Tillman’s chain of command and the role they played in the mistakes and errors made in reporting Tillman’s April 22, 2004, friendly fire death in Afghanistan.
During a briefing at the Pentagon by Army Secretary Pete Geren and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody, Kensinger was singled out as the officer who was to blame for why the Tillman family and many Americans believe the Army tried to cover up the circumstances of the former professional football player’s death.
One of the local screeds near Tillman’s hometown of San Jose, the San Francisco Chronicle, put it in civilian’s terms:
Waxman’s Oversight and Government Reform Committee launched the probe earlier this year, sifting through evidence gathered by Tillman’s family and Army investigators that found that senior Army officers destroyed key evidence, including burning Tillman’s uniform and armor-plated vest; warned Tillman’s fellow soldiers not to discuss the incident; and later devised a public relations strategy for how to handle the football star’s tragic death.
Several Army officers are expected to be disciplined for their handling of the shooting as part of a new Army inquiry. But Tillman’s family and House lawmakers believe that top Pentagon commanders — including Abizaid and possibly Rumsfeld — were also aware of or approved the cover-up.
Too bad Bush/Cheney/Rove couldn’t be there at the table, either:
The committee also wants testimony from Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who sent a high-priority cable five days after Tillman’s death to Abizaid and other top Army commanders, warning that the former NFL safety probably had been killed by friendly fire — not by Taliban insurgents as the Army claimed publicly.
The memo, viewed as a “smoking gun” by congressional investigators, urged Abizaid to immediately contact “POTUS” — the president of the United States — “to preclude any unknowing statements by our country’s leaders which might cause public embarrassment.”
Here’s the C-Span link. It’s really the top story, so links to this circus will be hard to miss.
It’s going to start 10 a.m. Eastern, which means 9 a.m. Central, and 7 a.m. Pacific. I’m going to watch as much as I can stomach.
n/t
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Army Secretary Pete Geren briefs reporters at the Pentagon. (AP)WASHINGTON – The Army censured a retired three-star general for a “perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership” after the 2004 friendly-fire death in Afghanistan of Army Ranger Pat Tillman.
Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger failed to provide proper leadership to the soldiers under his administrative control. … He let his soldiers down,” Geren said. “He was the captain of that ship, and his ship ran aground.”
At least six other officers received lesser reprimands.
Geren said he considered recommending a court-martial for Kensinger but ruled it out.
“You are hereby censured for your conduct and failure of leadership in matters relating to the investigation and reporting of the death of Corporal Pat Tillman,” said a memo reprimanding the retired general. “Your failings compounded the grief suffered by the Tillman family, resulted in the dissemination of erroneous information and caused lasting damage to the reputation and credibility of the U.S. Army.”
The Army panel will decide whether Kensinger should be stripped of his third star, a move that would cut his retirement benefits. Kensinger, who headed Army special operations, retired in 2006.
≈ Cross-posted from blksista’s diary — The murder of Pat Tillman ≈
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Thanks for the link, sista. I’ll try to watch too. But it’s Hard Work! It’s been so wonderful not to have to listen to Rumsfeld lately – choosing to do it seems so masochistic. Only in my fantasy world he will break down and weep.
This story must be the turning point we’ve all been waiting for.
For a spiritual lift read Michael Collins’ Impeahment: where we’re headed at The Smirking Chimp.
The big wheel keeps on turning, and turning.
No doubt that his recollection will be, umm, impaired.
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Today, the Oversight and Govt. Reform Cmte. holds a hearing on Army Cpl. Pat Tillman’s death by fratricide. Senior Defense Dept. officials describe what they knew about the incident. Witnesses include; Gen. Richard Myers (Ret.), Gen. John Abizaid (Ret.), Gen. Bryan Douglas Brown (Ret.), and fmr. Def. Sec. Donald Rumsfeld.
Retired general may lose star over Tillman case
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."every one of them.
along with several other family members.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070801/tillman-friendly-fire/?
…and no, they were not trying to protect the Tillman family with this cover-up.
I wish the news would quit using the term ‘friendly fire’ as that implies that he was killed by accident during a firefight and we now know that there was absolutely no firefight going on whatsoever. Given what we know so far I suspect that the truth is far far more sinister.
The issue has emerged that medical evidence indicates that Tillman was shot at ten yards, not 90 yards, as the army claims:
But I don’t suppose any Congressmen are going to ask anyone about this at the hearings.
It looks like the “friendly fire” story is just a second coverup. The AP story says: “No evidence of enemy fire was found. No one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.” I guess that that, together with the preceding, means that the three shots to the forehead were the only wounds Tillman had. That fire in the heat of battle at 90 yards would produce those and only those wounds is completely preposterous.
See also Is the Tillman case still a coverup, by Winston Warfield, another Vietnam vet.
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Here is the link …
Army doctors examining Tillman noted the very close grouping of the entry wounds in his forehead, and concluded they could not have come from a weapon fired 90 yards away(more like 10 yards, max), and tried to report this, but their reports were squelched. Ten yards raises vexing questions, not the least of which is that the Army’s current story, after the first Silver Star heroism version was exposed as b.s., may itself be another cover-up. The obvious question is this: if the bullets came from 10 yards away, who fired them, and why?
This is complicated by the knowledge that Pat Tillman, a member of the elite U.S. Army Rangers, its shock infantry, was openly opposed to the occupation of Iraq, in which he had participated, and was a well-read political dissident who intended to meet with Noam Chomsky, an internationally-renowned political writer who is deeply opposed to U.S. imperialism.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."