Report: Bush administration milked untruths about Tillman, Lynch during sour times

Nick Juliano
Raw Story
Monday, July 14, 2008

The Bush administration willfully pushed fictional portrayals of Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan and Jessica Lynch’s capture in Iraq to create “compelling public narratives” at times when public opinion was starting to sour on the wars, Congressional investigators have found.

The House Oversight Committee on Monday released a draft report on the sagas of Tillman and Lynch. The public did not learn that friendly fire had killed Tillman, a former NFL player, until more than a month after his death, and an apocryphal tale of Lynch bravely battling her Iraqi captors circulated for more than two months before key aspects of it were revealed to be false.

“Our nation also has an inviolate obligation to share truthful information with a soldier’s family and the American people should injury or death occur…. That standard was not met in either Corporal Tillman’s or Private Lynch’s cases,” the report says.

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“Neither case involved an act of omission. The misinformation was not caused by overlooking or misunderstanding relevant facts. Instead, in both cases affirmative acts created new facts that were significantly different than what the soldiers in the field knew to be true. And in both cases the fictional accounts proved to be compelling public narratives at difficult times in the war.”

The committee reviewed scores of e-mails and interviewed officials at all levels of the government. When their inquiry took them inside the White House though, it was stymied by a spate of faulty memories.

The Committee’s investigation adds many new details to the Tillman story. But on the key issue of what senior officials knew, the investigation was frustrated by a near universal lack of recall. The Committee interviewed several senior officials at the White House, including Communications Director Dan Bartlett, Press Secretary Scott McClellan, and chief speechwriter Michael Gerson. Not a single one could recall when he learned about the fratricide or what he did in response.

Similarly, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Committee: “I don’t recall when I was told and I don’t recall who told me.”

The highest-ranking official who could recall being informed about Corporal Tillman’s fratricide was former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, who said, “I knew right at the end of April, that there was a possibility of fratricide in the Corporal Tillman death.” General Myers testified that it would have been “logical” for him to pass this information to Secretary Rumsfeld, but said “I just don’t recall whether I did it or not.”

Regarding Tillman’s death, which came toward the beginning of President Bush’s re-election campaign, the report found the White House was eager to portray the former Arizona Cardinal who joined the Army Rangers as a hero.

The apparent desire within the White House was so strong that they did not bother to even verify Tillman’s death with the Pentagon before commenting, nor did Bush administration officials recognize a standard 24-hour delay the military observes before commenting on a soldiers’ death to give families time to grieve privately.

Bush/Cheney campaign advisers also were eager to help with the response, the committee found.

Several high-level staff members of President Bush’s reelection campaign contacted White House officials to suggest public responses to Corporal Tillman’s death. Matthew Dowd, the campaign’s chief strategist, sent an e-mail to Mr. Bartlett, writing, “You hear about pat tilman? Potus should call his family or go to Arizona or his hometown.”

Mark McKinnon, the campaign’s media advisor, also e-mailed Mr. Bartlett, saying: “Realize President really shouldn’t do anything that he hasn’t done for any other soldier killed in the military, but certainly think he could say something about he exemplifies the ultimate in humility, heroism and sacrifice.

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8 Responses to “Report: Bush administration milked untruths about Tillman, Lynch during sour times”

1. Gregory Fegel Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

   To paraphrase George Orwell, “The USA is at war with Oceania. The USA has ALWAYS been at war with Oceania.”

2. Publius Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

   The known facts of Tillman’s death point overwhelmingly to planned murder, followed by a systematic cover-up. For example, Tillman was killed by three tightly-spaced 5.56 mm rounds to his forehead from about 10 feet away. To claim a massive guy like Tillman could have been mistaken for an Afghan fighter at that distance is beyond absurd. The method of his killing also looks very much like Special Ops – the tightly-spaced headshot is most telling. And, in fact, there were SEALs with Tillman’s unit. There are any number of motives for wanting Tillman dead, but at this point his death should not be considered manslaughter, but rather cold-blooded and premeditated murder.

3. Fin MacCool Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

   Bush wacked Tillman because he was going to come out against war and the military/industrial complex and demand that 9/11 be investigated for real.

4. buffalobill Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

   This is definitely a smoking gun. Perhaps Tillman would’ve seen things that would have given Bush more heat, another operation taking place in Afgan. or with the puppet, Bin Laden. Who was it that said, “the bigger the lie, the more people will believe it?” I’m quite sure it was the guy who was the Nazi propaganda chief during WWII.

5. resist NWO Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

   Just more lies from psychopaths.

6. eddytoronto Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

   Well J.Ventura Shunk up lika prune….He didnt even mention the dollar devaluation . He loves mexico a country that is killing americans and Canadians. J.Ventura is a is a silly man. He has no idea whats going on? He didnt even mention Ron Paul and how Ron was erased from coverage and debates.

   We need true north americans not a flip Flop over the fence mexican lovers. J.Ventura you suck. Alex you were wrong about J.Ventura. The Bigger the lie the easer the sell!

   AFGHANISTAN iS A LIE J.VENTURA

   J.Ventura said it himself hes not in tune. His son had to force him to watch a Doc about 9/11 ….. shit hell his son probably should run…LOL

   Alex I thought you were a better judge?

7. bethehammer Says:
   July 14th, 2008 at 11:26 pm

   The truly sad thing is that if you ask any of the sheeple out there what they think of Tillman’s death or Lynch being captured they would recite the original fake story (assuming they remember at all). Seeing all of this unfold makes me understand why people are compelled to become evil and control others: it’s just too damn easy.

8. German dude_101 Says:
   July 15th, 2008 at 2:04 am

   I now this is completely off-topic now, but has anybody noticed the apparent injustices and lies spread by the government maybe serve the purpose of creating a breach in society so the UN maybe can intervene eventually.

   So long the common enemy has been terrorists, but I think since people are much more aware by now it is in fact the “enemies domestic” that threaten their uphold ideologies, the salvation may come as part of a foreign occupation to seemingly liberate the people.

   I believe concidering in fundamental christian circles, satan is said to come as an apparent greater good, while in fact being the deceiptive force of evil.

   THUS I wondered wether the seemingly irrational and pointless behaviour by the government indicated it simply was too stupid pulling off a proper conspiracy.

   But by now I think it is their goal to create public dissent and uproar with the policies, thereby allowing ’satan’ to bear salvation in the form of abolishing the government, only to allow a new more radical course that might take us into the real dictatorship ‘they’ have sought after all this time!

   I’m just afraid, after watching the movie “metropolis” by Fritz Lang that maybe sometimes the humane revolution, as in the past, will only serve the purposes of the middle class and sinister perpetrators, aspiring different goals from we expected them to.

   Only to wake up one day and realize we did exactely as they wanted us to, this is really freaking me out.