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A Tragedy of War and another Investigation

This ABC News exclusive on the Pat Tillman case leads with these two paragraphs:

ABC News has learned that seven Army officers will receive career-ending administrative punishments for mishandling the Pat Tillman case. The Army has decided not to punish three other officers who had been accused of wrongdoing by the Pentagon inspector general.

None of the officers will face criminal charges.

A few paragraphs down in the article we find this:

Army officials would not confirm the punishments and cautioned that nothing had been finalized.

“No final decisions has been made, but those things are being considered,” Army spokesman Col. Dan Baggio told ABC News. Baggio added, “It would be inappropriate for the Army to make any announcements prior to family and congressional notification, which is going to happen next week.”

It escapes me how you can incorporate both of those paragraphs in one article. While I believe there are those who should pay a price for the handling of this friendly fire incident, why can we not just wait until all the facts are on the table before we make assumptions.

Furthermore, we are treated to the news that Congress will open yet another hearing into this matter.

Congressional investigators announced this week that they intend to question several former Bush administration officials about their knowledge of Pat Tillman’s death.

The top Democrat and Republican on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding Tuesday, informing him about the upcoming investigation.

The death of this young man was indeed a tragedy as each one is, but if he was not a former NFL star I doubt very seriously if this would be on the table for Congressional investigation. Friendly fire incidents unfortunately are a product of war and sometimes difficult to immediately distinguish.

I have no problem with the military disciplining their own when wrongdoing is confirmed,but I do have a problem with this becoming just another sound bite for Congress and a continuation of the following.(via White House Press Briefing, 07/25/07)

In any event, it’s worth putting this in perspective in terms of the accomplishments of the present Congress. If you take a look at the 110th Congress right now, which had promised to have all of its appropriations bills done this month, here’s what we have seen since the beginning of the Congress: More than 300 executive branch investigations or inquiries; 400 requests for documents, interviews, or testimony; we’ve had more than 550 officials testify; we’ve had more than 600 oversight hearings; 87,000-plus hours spent responding to oversight requests; and 430,000 pages made available to Congress for oversight. That’s pretty significant.

In fact, the 87,000 hours that we mentioned that have been used in document production — that’s equal to more than nine-and-a-half years — and here’s your graphic of the day, ladies and gentlemen — if you took those 430,000 pages and stack them on top of each other, they would reach a height twice that of the executive mansion, itself.

Oh well, another day, another taxpayer dollar.

Written by Sue

4 Responses to “A Tragedy of War and another Investigation”

  1. ~J~ Says:

    July 26th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
    Visit ~J~

    Over the past 16 years or so I think the American public at large has gotten sick of the words “Congressional investigation”, campaign, primaries and anything to do with politics.

    All we want is an honest government from top to bottom with people of integrity running the different branches, departments and committees.

    Yes, the Republicans did it to Clinton. Yes, the Democrats did it to Nixon and it paid off in that case but was ultimately a bipartisan search that found the truth.

    Yes, the Democrats are doing it to Bush. And yes, the Congress will do it to the next president if that president happens to be of a different party.

    The question is when will someone decide to be the adult and instruct their underlings to stop with this stuff and get about the business of doing the business of the country.

    Another investigation is not going to bring Pat Tillman back, although I wish investigations would bring them all back. The mother and family will never be satisified with any explanation and that’s their right as the immediate family. Where is Tillman’s wife in all this? He was married and as such she was his next of kin.

    ABC news is contradicting itself in the same article. Is it that they don’t realize what they wrote or they are trying to put on a show of balance? I don’t know.

    How I look forward to noon on Jan. 20, 2009. Maybe the next president will at least have a honeymoon period before they drag us all in the mud with them again with all these investigations that are repeats of repeats.

    Good post, Sue. Thanks for putting it up.

  2. Sue Says:

    July 26th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
    Visit Sue

    Thanks J.

    I do not think it is a show of balance or the headline would not have leaned the direction it is. It has become my belief the press does this to cover themselves in the event things do not work out as they wish or have perceived through their anonymous sources.

    I too, wish we could bring back each of these soldiers no matter the circumstances of their death. But you are correct, no amount of investigations can achieve that goal.

  3. david Says:

    July 27th, 2007 at 7:33 am
    Visit david

    I haven’t read all of yesterday’s postings because I spend the day and the evening (until 8 pm!) in Court. You know they now think he was shot by an M-16 from only about 10 yards? The Army asked for a murder investigation and it was refused (by whom? Don’t know). It might have caught attention whether or not he was an NFL player–don’t know.

  4. ~J~ Says:

    July 27th, 2007 at 8:04 am
    Visit ~J~

    I read that last night too, David. According to the report the pathologist who did the autopsy said he had 3 bullet holes in the forehead and it appeared to be from an M-16 and at a range of about 10 yards.

    They questioned whether or not he was liked by his fellow troops, and that’s a question his mother has.

    Judging from what I read was his “real” last words to the soldier who was with him and said he stood up telling his name, his wrath was aimed at the other soldier who was down trying to protect himself.

    The documents also shed new light on Tillman’s last moments.

    It has been widely reported by the AP and others that Spc. Bryan O’Neal, who was at Tillman’s side as he was killed, told investigators that Tillman was waving his arms shouting “Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!” again and again.

    But the latest documents give a different account from a chaplain who debriefed the entire unit days after Tillman was killed.

    The chaplain said that O’Neal told him he was hugging the ground at Tillman’s side, “crying out to God, help us. And Tillman says to him, `Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God’s not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling …”

    Link.

    This would lead me to believe he wasn’t very popular if he talked like that all the time, then again my experience with the army was when my husband was in over 30 years ago for 3 years. Was it murder? I don’t know and don’t know if we’ll ever find out.