Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Vi ricordate di Pat Tillman?

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2005/05/09/a14a_
tillman_edit_0509.html
Exploitation of a hero
Pat Tillman gave his life to the U.S. Army.
The Army, in return, killed Pat Tillman and turned his death into the
centerpiece of a lie.
First, officials lied to Cpl. Tillman's brother -- also an Army Ranger
-- and then to the rest of Cpl. Tillman's family.
Investigators knew that fellow Rangers, in an act of "gross
negligence," fired on and killed Cpl. Tillman near the Afghan town of
Manah on April 22, 2004.
Then, officials, including forces commander Gen. John P. Abizaid, lied
to the nation, allowing Americans to believe that Taliban fighters
killed Cpl. Tillman.
It made a better story -- "an inspiration," the White House called it.
Pat Tillman had given up his $1 million-a-year-plus National Football
League salary to join the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks.
He was the kind of hero whose sacrifice motivated others to join.
The nation mourned Cpl. Tillman during a nationally televised memorial
service, never suspecting that the event was propaganda.
But the Army knew.
Is it possible that the commander in chief didn't?
Could Army officials deceive him in such a high-profile case and
escape punishment when the truth came out?
The Army admitted in late May 2004 that friendly fire killed Cpl.
Tillman.
Just this week, The Washington Post revealed that officials knew the
circumstances well before the memorial.
As in all the other scandals, no one high in the chain of command has
paid a price.
Seven soldiers present at the attack were given administrative
reprimands.
A year before Cpl. Tillman died, the Army and administration had
turned Jessica Lynch's capture and rescue into propaganda, but at
least in that case they were not exploiting her death.
Confusion explains part of what happened in Afghanistan.
Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones, who conducted an investigation at the
request of Cpl. Tillman's family and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., found
that "some soldiers lost situational awareness to the point they had
no idea where they were."
They thought they were under attack when they fired on Cpl.. Tillman,
who had set off a smoke grenade, was waving his arms and shouting,
"Friendlies! Friendlies!"
They also mistakenly killed an Afghan ally.
Confusion in battle is one thing.
Something else led soldiers to burn Cpl. Tillman's bloody uniform and
body armor the next day.
Something else led the Army to exploit Cpl. Tillman's death and
intensify his family's grief.
It wasn't the heat of battle.
It was cold calculation.

 It was cold calculation.
E se lo dice il giornalista...
-Stefano

 Pat Tillman gave his life to the U.S. Army.
Puah, chi ha sfruttato la morte di Tillman cosi' ha metri di peli sullo 
stomaco, gentaglia.
Palmiro Pangloss
-- 
"But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera I'll 
kill you."
Clint Eastwood to Michael Moore
National Board of Review awards dinner at the Tavern on the Green, New 
York, NY 11.01.05

 stomaco, gentaglia.
Vero, ovviamente. E anch'io ho sbagliato nel non attribuire a Tillman la
qualifica che l'art. gli attribuiva (e che merita), "eroe". Questo, senza
spostare di un millimetro il mio giudizio sull'orrida guerra afghana,
s'intende. Shalom.
Namib