http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003563215Tillman's Family Rip Military Report, Ask Press to Help
Published: March 26, 2007 11:55 PM
SAN JOSE A belated military report released today concludes (see other stories) that former NFL star Pat Tillman, who died in Afghanistan in 2004, was not the victim of foul play by fellow troops, and no one engaged in an organized cover-up of what transpired.
Tillman's family firmly rejected the Defense Department's findings, calling for congressional investigations and press probings into what they see as broad malfeasance and a coverup.
"Perhaps subpoenas are necessary to elicit candor and accuracy from the military," his family said in a statement Monday night, after hearing the results of the latest probes.
The men who shot Tillman have always claimed the April 22, 2004, incident was a terrible mistake in the fog of war, and the Army officially agreed Monday, declining to press charges. But possible punishments still hang over several high-ranking officers who allegedly botched the investigations and key administrative tasks.
Nine Army officers, including four generals, made errors in reporting the friendly fire death to their superiors and to the Tillman family, the Pentagon said. Defense officials said one or more of those officers who provided misleading information as the military investigated could be charged with a crime.
Late Monday, Tillman's family released the following statement, following a briefing the family received from Pentagon officials. The family expressed extreme disappointment in the findings and said this fit a pattern of cover-up by the military and this administration.
"Now we ask the assistance of Congress and the press," the family members explained.
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Our family will continue to pursue the full truth about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death and the so-called "missteps" of the Army, the Department of Defense, and this administration.
The briefing we just received was unsatisfactory.
The characterization of criminal negligence, professional misconduct, battlefield incompetence, concealment and destruction of evidence, deliberate deception, and conspiracy to deceive are not "missteps."
These actions are malfeasance.
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