More Pat Tillman

[Boris]

I have a tremendous amount of respect for this guy because he sacrificed a life that was truely the American dream, for a cause he believed in.

However, at least in the San Francisco Bay area, the press is going on and on about how his family feels betrayed because the Army didn't tell them right away that he was killed by friendly fire. Honestly, does it really matter that much? It's war. [censored] happens. Bad things happen. No doubt the Tillman family is upset but it's not like this is a major scandal. Why does it deserve congressional hearings and non stop press coverage?

[Huh?]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a tremendous amount of respect for this guy because he sacrificed a life that was truely the American dream, for a cause he believed in.

However, at least in the San Francisco Bay area, the press is going on and on about how his family feels betrayed because the Army didn't tell them right away that he was killed by friendly fire. Honestly, does it really matter that much? It's war. [censored] happens. Bad things happen. No doubt the Tillman family is upset but it's not like this is a major scandal. Why does it deserve congressional hearings and non stop press coverage?

[/ QUOTE ]

it is that they lied...created a coverup of that lie...and it was done not to spare the family any extra grief...but so they wouldn't look bad and could create great PR for the Army/War/etc.
They basically used his dead body as a marketing tool.

[rubbrband]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have a tremendous amount of respect for this guy because he sacrificed a life that was truely the American dream, for a cause he believed in.

However, at least in the San Francisco Bay area, the press is going on and on about how his family feels betrayed because the Army didn't tell them right away that he was killed by friendly fire. Honestly, does it really matter that much? It's war. [censored] happens. Bad things happen. No doubt the Tillman family is upset but it's not like this is a major scandal. Why does it deserve congressional hearings and non stop press coverage?

[/ QUOTE ]

it is that they lied...created a coverup of that lie...and it was done to spare the family any extra grief...but so they wouldn't look bad and could create great PR for the Army/War/etc.
They basically used his dead body as a marketing tool.

[/ QUOTE ]
QFT

[cardcounter0]

It is that they lied...created a coverup of that lie...and it wasn't done to spare the family any extra grief...but so they wouldn't look bad and could create great PR for the Army/War/etc.
They basically used his dead body as a marketing tool.

FYP and QFT

[Felix_Nietzsche]

The army lies about stuff like this.
Remember Jessica Lynch? They gave her all these medals and told this bull---- story how she fought the Iraqis off untill she ran out of ammo.

I think for every one legit medal the army gives out two bull---- medals. During the Panamanian invasion one female dog handler got the purple heart when she passed out from heat exhaustion (you only earn the purple heart in the enemy wounds you).

Then there is John McCain who received more medals than a Mexican genereal for about 15 hours of combat. And what did he accomplish? He got shot down. So how come do pilots who spend more time in combat and who do NOT get shotdown get less medals?

The whole thing is bull----. John Murtha is supposedly a war hero but based on my experience in the army I wonder if he earned any of his medals. Same goes with John Kerry. Kerry should have had several of his purple hearts revoked.

All these hero fish-stories have gottne out-of-control....

[Kaj]

Sure the govt lies and lies and lies and sometimes when it hits people at home, they get upset. Seems reasonable. What's unreasonable is that all these lies seem to upset so few of us.

[casey_brick]

Pat Tillman was the most famous person to join the Army since Elvis was drafted. The story was great man turns down millions to serve his country. The end of the story is of course tragic, but it happens more often than you think.

I know many families who have been given "alternate endings" for their loved ones for one reason or another. Especially in cases where friendly fire is known/suspected the Army or USMC will in most cases outright lie to the family. Pat Tillmans case was only uncovered because of who he was before he joined the army.

The Army inparticular loves its good PR. They've always been fast to promote stories of patriotism and bravery(i.e. J. Lynch, Pat Tillman), but quick to try to sweep the bad under the rug(i.e. Abu Grav, Walter Reed).

[Hoi Polloi]

You should watch Kevin Tillman's testimony. He makes a strong case that, as he calls it, an alternative narrative was developed in order to have a heroic story at the very time that the military was suffering losses in Iraq (Falluja) and Hersh was about to break the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal.

This does not appear to have "innocent" mistakes but rather a calculated effort to turn Tillman's absurd and tragic death into a national feel-good moment intended to benefit the war planners.

According to Tillman, who was a ranger the Pat's unit, we were deliberately manipulated in order to bolster support for this idiotic war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/...iendly_fire_22

Check it out for yourself. Indulge your credulity at the peril of your freedom.

[donkeylove]

I understand his family's grief, but the whole story is being co-opted by the antiwar movement to say the war wasn't neccessary. What's the difference how he died? He believed in the effort, and if the family didn't realize perception and propaganda are part of war, then they are naive. Tillman was definitely marketed, but you either believe in the effort, and win at all costs, including controlling the media or you don't. Tillman believed in the war and I don't think he would care about how the Army reported it. Better to let your family think you died a hero. I am against the war, but his family making a big deal of this seems sily to me. The Army lied to try to bolster the war effort. No suprise. Been going on for hundreds of years. They just didn't have a hundred newsmen to dig it up in the past.

[SNOWBALL]

[ QUOTE ]
He believed in the effort, and if the family didn't realize perception and propaganda are part of war, then they are naive

[/ QUOTE ]

WRONG
He supported the war in afghanistan but was AGAINST the war in Iraq. One of his favorite authors was Noam Chomsky.