Executive Privilege
(be sure to see near the end where Kevin Tillman calls for uncovering who
killed Pat Tillman)
Arizona Cardinals football
star Pat Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004 serving in Afghanistan. Since his
death, testimony before Congress has revealed the White House and Pentagon lied
and the President is covering up the truth with claims of executive privilege.
Why did so many people in the Bush administration and military lie? This article
is to help you understand the cover-up and even possible execution that helped
reelect President Bush.
The
following information had the potential to bring down the Bush administration
but the corporate media successfully sold the Bush administration version and
then the alternate friendly fire version.
The evidence is clear that Tillman’s death was actively managed by his chain of
command starting with the denial of the initial medical examiners investigation
request.1
The medical examiners were suspicious because the bullet wounds to Tillman’s
head did not match how they were told he died. The details that have recently
been released shed new light on General McChrystal’s April 2004 cable to General
Abjzaid that the country’s leaders would be hurt if the true circumstances of
Cpl. Tillman’s death became public.2
For example, Tillman had contacted Noam Chomsky to plan a joint anti-war
statement and support Kerry’s presidential election campaign.3
To obtain a better sense of
the pressures on the Bush administration to suppress dissent in April 2004, you
should know that Tillman died the week before the Abu Ghraib scandal became
known to the public. Immediately after his death the Bush administration and the
Pentagon told the world Pat Tillman died heroically in combat with the enemy.
Tillman’s May 3, 2004 memorial in San Jose was nationally televised. Flags waved
and conservative commentators such as Ann Coulter called him “an American
original — virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be.”
The daily pro-war propaganda
continued until five weeks later when Tillman’s battalion started coming home.
The public then learned Tillman was killed by US initiated gunfire. Conveniently
delayed until after the November presidential election, on November 14, 2004,
the officer who conducted the first investigation testified that there was
criminal intent. Criminal intent is the legal equivalent of murder.
Subsequent investigations
continued to cover-up the truth. What we now know is that when a Humvee became
disabled, Tillman, who was serving in the same unit as his brother Kevin, was
ordered to leave his brother who stayed with the disabled vehicle. The platoon
leader, Lt. David Uthlaut, protested splitting the team as counter-productive
and extremely dangerous but was overruled. Pat Tillman and Sgt. Bryan O’Neal
were ordered to advance on foot.
In transcripts released in
July 2007, key never-before-mentioned facts are revealed including that two
snipers were present when Pat Tillman was killed.4
The snipers, working as a team, might explain the three bullet holes in
Tillman’s head.
Sgt. O’Neal survived and he
raises many serious questions. According to O’Neal’s testimony, Tillman waved
his arms and yelled “cease fire.” He also set off a smoke grenade to identify
his group as fellow soldiers. The firing stopped after which Tillman and O’Neal
thought they were safe and relaxed. Both men were standing and talking in clear
view when the shooting resumed instantly killing Tillman. Kevin Tillman
revealed in testimony before Congress that the least the country can do for his
brother “is to uncover who is responsible for his death and who lied and covered
it up.”5
On July 13, 2007, Rep. Henry
Waxman (D-CA) revealed the White House and Pentagon were holding up a House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation into Tillman’s death.
Waxman said he was notified that the White House had exercised executive
privilege to keep both Congress and the American people in the dark.
Tillman's brother, Kevin, has confirmed that while
Pat volunteered to go to Afghanistan after 9/11, he was very opposed to the
invasion of Iraq. Kevin also confirms that Pat was planning to meet with
Professor Noam Chomsky and publicly oppose Bush's reelection.
Noam Chomsky has confirmed he was exchanging
emails with Pat Tillman which is noteworthy because all email traffic from
soldiers in Afghanistan is intercepted by the Bush administration to help manage
the war effort.
Is there a possible reason
for the lies, acknowledged conspiracy, and executive privilege? Until President
Bush ends his claims of executive privilege, we are left to conclude the first
investigator’s claim of criminal intent or murder was accurate.
I’ve been face-to-face with
senior military officials who have said they did not tell the truth because of
orders from their chain-of-command. One such case was on June 21, 2006 with
General Oscar Hillman. Hillman was the commander of Patrick McCaffrey’s unit in
Iraq when Patrick was killed on June 22, 2004. Almost two years to the day of
Patrick’s murder, Hillman revealed Patrick was killed by Iraqis he was training.6
Why was McCaffrey’s death classified for two years? The reason is President Bush
was telling the world the training of Iraqi soldiers was an example of America’s
successful progress in Iraq. Had the numerous murders of soldiers like McCaffrey
been revealed and Tillman lived to criticize President Bush, John Kerry may very
well have won the November 2004 presidential election.
McCaffrey’s and Tillman’s
death were not innocent mistakes. Soldiers were ordered not to tell the truth
and President Bush exercised executive privilege to reinforce the cover-up. We
must not continue to tolerate the murder of soldiers and concealment of the
truth. We can save our constitutional democracy but we must take action by
demanding the President be impeached for his betrayal of our soldiers, starting
an unnecessary war, and undermining the Constitution.
By Dave Dionisi
CBS 60 Minutes reported on Pat Tillman's murder.
Part 1 and Part 2 are below. This is provided in compliance with Fair Use
Title 17 Section 107 non-profit educational use.
General Abizad’s testimony
about being in Iraq when Tillman was killed is subsequently proven incorrect as
Abizad was in Qatar and Afghanistan. Donald Rumsfeld, micro manager and with a
history of following Tillman’s progress, says he only learned about Tillman’s
death after May 20, 2004.
"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."
Question to Capt. Richard
Scott, who conducted the first investigation: Are you aware
whether or not any U.S. forces snipers were at the scene?
Scott: They were in serial two.
