May 4, 2004:
After Corporal Tillman's death, an Army spokesman announced that he would be given the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor.
The Army also released details of the firefight that took his life. The Army said that he and his platoon were not initially in danger, but that he had ordered his men out of their vehicles to confront small-arms and mortar fire that had pinned down the rear of their convoy.
Corporal Tillman, 27, led his team members up a hill and directed them into firing positions. "Tillman's voice was heard issuing commands to take the fight to the enemy forces," the Army said.
Near the crest of the hill, he was shot while firing his automatic rifle. His actions, the Army statement said, helped the trapped soldiers emerge from their positions "without taking a single casualty." Mr. Tillman protected his team "without regard to his own safety," the Army said. Two American soldiers were wounded and an Afghan soldier was killed.
Virtually every word of that "official" story, except for Tillman's death was a lie. Perpetuated to bang the drums of war, to support the Bush War Machine.
The truth is Pat Tillman died, as too often happens in war, because of stupidity and panic in others. But that story wasn't good enough, the cover up started early and low on the totem pole - but not for a moment did the Bush Administration want anything out of their military policies but a hero -- a hero that they crafted as they defined it - not a hero as Mr. Tillman would. Because we know now that Pat Tillman didn't think much of the manner in which George Bush ran the war -- to say the least.
Senior military officials said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had expressed outrage to top aides that the Army was having to conduct yet another inquiry into the shooting, prolonging the family's anguish and underscoring the failure of the Army's investigative processes to bring resolution, and once again exposing Rummy as the idiotic, heartless, photo-copied grievance letter writing, asshole he is.
The list of things for which Rumsfeld's head should roll are too numerous anymore to list.
There is NOTHING short of opposition to Tax Cuts that will get you fired from the Bush Administration (the desperate need for a Fall Guy during Katrina excepted).
For example, we recently learned that two White House officials who went to Mississippi just before Bush made his initial visit and set up victims with a story they were from FoxNews. A stupid, manipulative lie given to victims (sense a trend here?). These same two jokers then fucked with the same victims again by telling them later they were not from FoxNews but the Secret Service (another lie and another trend!).
You know, craven manipulation and deceit against people that just went through trauma, "fucking with 'em" if you will strikes me as a pretty damn good reason to get your ass fired.
So what happened to these two White House staff members?
Verbally Reprimanded.
Jiminy Jeebus! I've seen people fired for showing up to work 5 minutes early, and these two bastards get a verbal reprimand for this? And let's not even get started on the fact that impersonating Secret Service officers is illegal.
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