After Tillman death, Army clamped down

[lligrd]

Source: AP



After Tillman death, Army clamped down By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Within hours of Pat Tillman's death, the Army went into information-lockdown mode, cutting off phone and Internet connections at a base in Afghanistan, posting guards on a wounded platoon mate, and ordering a sergeant to burn Tillman's uniform.

<snip>

For example, the day after Tillman died, Spc. Jade Lane lay in a hospital bed in Afghanistan, recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by the same fellow Rangers who had shot at Tillman. Amid his shock and grief, Lane noticed guards were posted on him.

"I thought it was strange," Lane recalled. Later, he said, he learned the reason for their presence: The news media were sniffing around, and Lane's superiors "did not want anyone talking to us," he said.

<snip>
Nearby on the same base, a staff sergeant was in his tent when a captain walked in and told him to burn Tillman's bloody clothing.


more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070420/ap_on_re_us/tillman_information_clampdown;_ylt=AuW8Yulgo8f447sxshoeyEfMWM0F

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070420/ap_on_re_us/tillman_information_clampdown;_ylt=AuW8Yulgo8f447sxshoeyEfMWM0F

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This is just horrendous.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. bet they charged the family for the uniform, too.

The military takes its lead from Busg/Cheney. No wonder they are not believable anymore.

[lligrd]

2. I Wonder How Those "Patriotic Support The Troops" Folks

justify this kind of support for the troops and their families.

[proust78]

3. if that's not Obstruction of Justice

...I don't know what is.

[tabasco]

5. The Bush mafia has corrupted and disgraced the military.

Any generals with the moral courage to oppose the Bush cabal were fired / retired. The result is an incompetent and dishonest Pentagon that has disgraced our military with their lies and crimes. Troops in the field pay the price in blood for this corruption and incompetence.

[MADem]

4. FUCK up, MOVE up.

Then-Col. James C. Nixon, Tillman's regimental commander, ordered an investigation but directed that the information gathered be shared with as few people as possible until the results were finalized, acting Defense Department Inspector General Thomas Gimble found in a separate probe also completed last month.

Nixon, now a brigadier general and director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, said that he was not aware of all regulations governing such a case, and that his missteps were unintentional.



This incident did much toward jaundicing my view of the Department of Defense (as if Rummy's 'leadership' weren't enough?!).

[lligrd]

6. Yep! No Wonder The Military Is So Screwed Up

They promote corruption and incompetence.

[MADem]

9. They didn't, though, always. It's humiliating for those of us who actually gave a shit and had

standards to see this piece of crap the Services have become.

[lligrd]

12. Yes, Didn't Mean To Insult Anyone Who Has Served

or is currently serving. They are the ones who should be the most outraged over this sh!t.

[MADem]

13. No insult taken at all. It's just a damned shame. It keeps getting worse and worse.

First, they lower the intelligence standards, then they lower the moral/criminal standards. You get the military you pay for, I guess.

Of course, who, with any other options, is joining nowadays? Felons, and kids who can't get jobs, either because of high unemployment or because they're just boxes of rocks.

Ya can't lump them all together and call them all 'equivalent' but it does have to chap the best/brightest at being dragged down by the less capable.

And the leadership sure sucks, and isn't helping at all...

[AlCzervik]

7. um this scares the crap out of me, anybody else?

[lligrd]

8. Me Too!

This should be an important story. Unfortunately, I bet it will be barely noticed.

[lligrd]

10. Even Here On DU Apparently. nt

[MADem]

14. This isn't really news, though. This hideousness, down to the burning of the body armor, has been

discussed here for some time. The first-person details may be new, but the overall story has been known since the investigation was released. There have been loads of threads on the subject, too.

[lligrd]

16. Exactly, The Burning Of The Uniform Strikes Me As Very

telling.

[AlCzervik]

11. right? Fing lockdown, communications shut off? Thats some really scary stuff.

[MADem]

15. Any time you're getting ready to attack, OR do an exercise, the same thing happens.

In this 'new' military, with cellphones and email (as opposed to the old snail mail and dollar--or more-- a minute land line phones) instantaneous communication is considered to be par for the course.

In the old days, when you were deployed for six months, you were DEPLOYED for six months. Letters, the odd five minute phone call from port, MAYBE...but that was it.

Shutting down communications is more common than people realize. Doing it for this reason, though, was a bit, ass-covering-ly shitty.

[RedEarth]

17. KR....

[RamboLiberal]

18. This photo bugs me

This April 2006 photo released by the Army Criminal Investigation Command in March 2007 shows a military re-enactment of the incident that took the life of Spc. Pat Tillman in eastern Afghanistan. This frame shows investigators at the scene of Tillman's death, with a Humvee in the background to show the approximate area near where his fellow Rangers fired at him.

I know the firefight was a twilight - but still I find it a bit hard to believe that at the distance shown in the photo the Rangers couldn't recognize the helmet, vest and uniform of a fellow Ranger from an insurgent who is not wearing a helmet and vest.

Curious of others opinions. Somehow I always thought the terrain more rugged and the distance greater in this incident. I've always wondered if the killing wasn't intentional.

[lligrd]

19. I Hadn't Seen That Photo

and I agree with you.

[lligrd]

20. Can I Kick Myself?

Would love the unfortunates who had to work today to see this. I am truly outraged at the extent of this coverup.

[hvn_nbr_2]

21. When you're doing a cover-up, you can't have a bunch of curious people around....

asking questions, talking to people, and looking at stuff.

It's really that simple, I think.