The Big Propoganda Lie

One of the true discomforting things that the right-wing is especially good at, is creating the big, bold, loud, repeated and repeated lie like a mantra. The lie then becomes part of the national conscience to such an extent that it is believed reflexively by a majority of sheeple, even when the truth comes out.

The latest exhibit of this is the death of Pat Tillman, former NFL football player, who like his brother joined the Army Rangers in the wake of September 11th.

Tillman was praised and respected for his decision, as he gave up a sizeable NFL paycheck for his decision. Tillman was a solid, but not spectacular NFL player, but definitely was likely to earn several years of six-figure to low seven-figure salaries in the league and in that context his choice was certainly admirable.

Tillman was subsequently killed in April 2004 while serving in Afghanistan.

In the days following his death, he was all but beatified by those wanting to grasp on to a notable hearing making a sacrificed. Ignored in the need to bleat was the fact that Tillman was an athiest/agnostic who would probably be either horified or to say the least bemused at his national sanctification.

Hosanas were sung to his name, and for once a dead soldier was given all the power and the glory of the Republic upon him, another thing that was frankly repulsive (through no fault of Tillman) as approximately 1,500 soldiers have died between the two countries and the Bush White House will not even allowed their flag-draped caskets to be shown. Politicians, particularly Republicans could not wait to cry for him.

The military quickly seized the moment to create a mythology about his death, one that is now fixed in the marrow of so many people it will likely never be tempered.

Just days after Pat Tillman died from friendly fire on a desolate ridge in southeastern Afghanistan, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command released a brief account of his last moments.

The April 30, 2004, statement awarded Tillman a posthumous Silver Star for combat valor and described how a section of his Ranger platoon came under attack.

"He ordered his team to dismount and then maneuvered the Rangers up a hill near the enemy's location," the release said. "As they crested the hill, Tillman directed his team into firing positions and personally provided suppressive fire. . . . Tillman's voice was heard issuing commands to take the fight to the enemy forces."

It was also a distorted and incomplete narrative, according to dozens of internal Army documents obtained by The Washington Post that describe Tillman's death by fratricide after a chain of botched communications, a misguided order to divide his platoon over the objection of its leader and undisciplined firing by fellow Rangers.

The Army's public release made no mention of friendly fire, even though at the time it was issued, investigators in Afghanistan had already taken at least 14 sworn statements from Tillman's platoon members that made clear the true causes of his death. The statements included a searing account from the Ranger nearest Tillman during the firefight, who quoted him as shouting "Cease fire! Friendlies!" with his last breaths. Army records show Tillman fought bravely during his final battle. He followed orders, never wavered and at one stage proposed discarding his heavy body armor, apparently because he wanted to charge a distant ridge occupied by the enemy, an idea his immediate superior rejected, witness statements show.

But the Army's published account not only withheld all evidence of fratricide, but also exaggerated Tillman's role and stripped his actions of their context. Tillman was not one of the senior commanders on the scene -- he directed only himself, one other Ranger and an Afghan militiaman, under supervision from others. And witness statements in the Army's files at the time of the news release describe Tillman's voice ringing out on the battlefield mainly in a desperate effort, joined by other Rangers on his ridge, to warn comrades to stop shooting at their own men.

The Army's April 30 news release was just one episode in a broader Army effort to manage the uncomfortable facts of Pat Tillman's death, according to internal records and interviews. During several weeks of memorials and commemorations that followed Tillman's death, commanders at his 75th Ranger Regiment and their superiors hid the truth about friendly fire from Tillman's brother Kevin, who had fought with Pat in the same platoon, but was not involved in the firing incident and did not know the cause of his brother's death. Commanders also withheld the facts from Tillman's widow, his parents, national politicians and the public, according to records and interviews with sources involved in the case.

In the meantime, the national mythology movement has acted. Corporal Tillman's admirable service, but unfortunate death, have been respectively over-exploited and ignored.

How many times has the press in this country fallen for this bullshit from the Bush Administration and the Pentagon, and how much longer will it do so.

Probably forever.

Baghdad Bob isn't so funny anymore is he?