Officers To Be Blamed For Tillman Coverup

CBS: Pentagon To Point Finger At 9 Officers In Fallout From NFL Star's Friendly Fire Death

(CBS/AP)  It's been nearly four years since Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. CBS News has learned that investigations by the Pentagon's inspector general will blame nine officers — including four generals — for failing to follow regulations and using poor judgment in a series of missteps that kept the truth of how he died from his family for more than a month, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

The official version was that the former NFL star had died in a fire fight with the enemy. It was only after a nationally televised memorial service was held for Tillman that his wife and parents were told he had been mistakenly shot by one of his own men.

Until now, only low-ranking soldiers who were part of Tillman's Army Ranger unit have been disciplined in the events surrounding his death. It will now be up to the Army to decide what, if any, disciplinary action to take against these nine officers.

According to a defense official, it does not appear that the IG investigation, the fifth inquiry into Tillman's death, found any indication of an orchestrated cover-up. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it appears that senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on that day in April 2004.

Dozens of soldiers — those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby — knew within minutes or hours that his death was caused by friendly fire. The IG investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command that knowledge went.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, Marines accused of shooting and killing civilians after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan are under U.S. investigation, and their entire unit has been ordered to leave the country early, officials said Friday.

Army Maj. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III, head of Special Operations Command Central, responsible for special operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, ordered the unit of about 120 Marines out of Afghanistan and initiated an investigation into the March 4 incident, said Lt. Col. Lou Leto, spokesman at Kearney's command headquarters.

A spokesman for the Marine unit, Maj. Cliff Gilmore, said it is in the process of leaving Afghanistan but he declined to provide details on the timing and new location, citing a need to preserve security.

In the March 4 incident in Nangahar province, an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into a convoy of Marines that U.S. officials said also came under fire from gunmen. As many as 10 Afghans were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made an escape. Injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians as they sped away.

U.S. military officials said militant gunmen shot at Marines and may have caused some of the civilian casualties.

Hundreds of Afghan men held an anti-U.S. demonstration afterward and President Hamid Karzai condemned the incident.

Leto, the spokesman at Special Operations Command Central headquarters in Tampa, Fla., said the Marines, after being ambushed, responded in a way that created "perceptions (that) have really damaged the relationship between the local population and this unit."

"The relationship you have with the local population while conducting counterinsurgency operations is very important, and because the perceptions damaged that, it probably degraded the (Marine) unit's ability to fulfill those kinds of missions," Leto added. "So the general felt it was best to move them out of that area."

[toolmangler-2009]

"I wonder if it was good intentions from his unit? Yes they knew it was friendly fire, but still wanted to spare his family and with good intent, said it was during combat? Not sure on this one,"
Posted by stevex47


My sentiments exactly!! I think the coverup started innocently but snowballed the moment the media got hold of it. Shouldn't have happened, but it did. The media can make a mountain out of a mole-hill.

[stevex47]

I wonder if it was good intentions from his unit? Yes they knew it was friendly fire, but still wanted to spare his family and with good intent, said it was during combat? Not sure on this one,

[iiffv]

Friendly fire happens in all wars. The problem here is that there was an intentional effort to cover it up. Is it the idea that we "can't handle the truth"? A more innocent reason? A more sinister reason? If the truth of the matter had come out from the get go, it wouldn't be a matter for concern now!

[j-whitman]

Think about it folks,,
, If you where on the other side of the world trying to get Bin Laden... You where killed by the wrong people,,, Wouldn't you want someone to find out how it happened ?????

[iiffv]

Come on ppl, S---- happens. If it was on purpose then prosecute the offender, otherwise give condolences and money to the family, admit the truth and move on.
Posted by ToolMangler at 09:49 PM : Mar 24, 2007

Agreed, The cover-up was purposeful, although I'm not sure there will be prosecution of those who instigated it.

[iiffv]

Take the political games elsewhere. Let Mr. Timllman rest in peace and let the poor people who shot him recover in peace.


Posted by Jebby_One at 03:28 PM : Mar 24, 2007

What is swept under the rug, stays under the rug?

[toolmangler-2009]

Oh my goodness!!!!! You mean that 'one' of OUR BOYS was killed by a member of OUR ARMED SERVICES?. That shows what can happen if you put weapons in the hands of HUMAN BEINGS. Come on ppl, S---- happens. If it was on purpose then prosecute the offender, otherwise give condolences and money to the family, admit the truth and move on.

[zootallures2]

I saw him with Elvis on the moon. Osama bin Laden captured them and hijacked a plane. He flew it so fast into the Sears towers that it bounced off and produced this calculation (x=eM*U3) (which 9 out of 10 doctors recommend) and the reaction sent the plane hurling to the moon. We need congress to tell Syria to tell Hizbollah to tell China to tell the Fedreral Reserve to print up a gagillion dollars so we can get them back.

[down-ndirty]

"He was true hero." Posted by greenback01

His sacrifice is no more heroic, and certainly no less heroic, than any others who have given their lives for their country. It would be insensitive and insulting to the loved ones of all the other men and women who gave their lives to say that Tillman's sacrifice was more important.

The fact that he was a sports figure makes him more public, not more important.

[hungry1968]

"Why would I consciously expose the people who had mistakenly directed the fire at Mr Tillman..."

Posted by Jebby_One at 03:04 PM : Mar 24, 2007

It most certainly was not "mistakenly directed" fire. The Bush administration needed a "hero" to prop up their cause. Who better than a NFL start turned soldier? Look at the facts:

First, he "died in battle".
Later, it was changed to "he died under questionable circumstances" and they wouldn't say how he died.
Then a month later they determined he "might" have been hit by friendly fire.
Now four years later, more "truth" is leaking out.

I believe he was shot in the back and it was done intentionally. The questions are, who ordered it, who did it, and how high up in the administration did they know about it?