Two Snipers involved in the Tillman attack.

[trumad]

Now I know that this doesn't square with the tight bullet grouping in Tillman's head, because the Snipers use large caliber rounds--- but you would think that the Snipers high-powered telescopes would have spotted Pat?

<snip>
Another key issue raised in the transcripts involved never-before-mentioned snipers who were apparently there when the firing broke out, got out of their vehicle and walked alongside the convoy, cutting up the canyon firing.

O'Neal said Saturday that he knew there were snipers in the convoy that fired at them, but that he can't remember their names. Were they fired at by the snipers? "Not that I know of," O'Neal told the AP.

His recollections of the snipers reflected other testimony in the transcripts, including answers given by Capt. Richard Scott, who conducted the first, immediate investigation:

Q: Are you aware whether or not any U.S. forces snipers were at the scene?

Scott: They were in serial two.

Q: And, and do you know whose GMV (ground mobility vehicle) they were traveling in?

Scott: I don't think they were in a GMV. I think they were in a cargo Humvee.

Q: Okay. Do you know if the snipers fired any rounds during this incident involving CPL Tillman?

Scott: I do not, no.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/07/28/tillman.frendly.ap/index.html

[tularetom]

1. Maybe Arlan Sphincter can come up with a magic bullet theory

like he did once before. Was the second sniper on the grassy knoll?

[PCIntern]

2. He'll promise a full and complete investigation,

no matter where it leads, and then state that although he questions some conclusions, the report which will exonerate all friendlies will be deemed 'essentially correct'. Move on folks, nothing to see here.

[MADem]

3. "Involved???" That's a massive STRETCH. They were present. And the guy who was NEXT to Tillman,

the one Tillman called a "snivelling expletive" moments before he died, gets the snipers off the hook: ...he knew there were snipers in the convoy that fired at them, but that he can't remember their names. Were they fired at by the snipers? "Not that I know of," O'Neal told the AP.

I think it's a long road to suggest that snipers, who were present in a unit where they were expected to be present, are somehow nefariously implicated, as though they were somehow inserted into this scenario as assassins, or what-have-you.

I'd find it more likely that a friend of O'Neal, angered at Tillman for yelling at his friend, squeezed off a three-fer in a fit of pique.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. That could be true

if Tillman wasn't well liked by the others in his squad. I mean, his last words were a put down to a fellow soldier. Now I understand that during a battle,things like that must be said so that everyone stays together-it is to protect the squad. But were these remarks unusual for Tillman or commonplace? If he'd been cussing out his fellow soldiers and calling them names for a while, it could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Also, how well liked was O'Neal compared to Tillman? The personal interaction of members of the squad needs to be examined.

[MADem]

5. It gets even more convoluted. There's an article in SI where the 'sniveller' denies that

Tillman ever said that. He goes back to the original story--the "Cease fire friendlies, I'm Pat Tillman" version.

Apparently, a Chaplain by the name of Chaplain (NAME BLACKED OUT) is the one shopping that version of events.

Someone needs to OUT that Chaplain. He needs to go on the record with his assertions. Maybe the Tillman family can get that name....

[cynatnite]

7. I believe that chaplain was debriefing the unit...

from what I recall reading. If he embelished that, what else did he embelish?

Either way, I think he was attempting to smear Tillman because he was an atheist.

[LisaL]

6. O'Neil is denying Tillman called him a "sniveling..."

As for two snipers, I find it very hard to believe that if two different people shot Tillman, the three bullets would end up really close to each other in his head.