Tillman & Lynch: Lies from the Warmongers

Would you buy a used war from this man?

April 25--A sharply divided House brushed aside a veto threat Wednesday and passed legislation that would order President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by Oct. 1.


Pat Tillman turned down a $3.6 million NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army, along with his brother Kevin, several months after the 9/11 attacks. After taking part in the invasion of Iraq, the brothers were redeployed to Afghanistan. Pat Tillman was killed accidentally in April 2004 by fire from his own unit. The Army lied to his family about the cause of his death. The Bush adminisration quickly moved to cover up the details--and still hasn't told the public the truth.

His outraged brother Kevin, appearing before the House Oversight Committee, accused leaders of "exploiting Pat's death" with "deliberate, calculated lies" that suppressed how other Rangers accidentally killed Tillman in a 2004 "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan. "This wasn't a misstep or error in judgment," said Kevin Tillman, who was speaking in public for the first time about his brother's death and how news about it was handled by the military. The Army and others, he said, "attempted to hijack his virtue and his legacy." The tale "inspired countless Americans, as intended," said Kevin Tillman, also a former Ranger. "There was one small problem with this narrative, however: It was utter fiction...intended to deceive not only the family but more importantly the American public."

The panel also heard from Jessica Lynch, the 19-year-old Army supply clerk captured during the first month of the Iraq war and then rescued by U.S. forces. Lynch testified Tuesday that the Pentagon's account, depicting her as a "G.I. Jane" emptying her rifle at Iraqi soldiers before her capture, was pure fabrication.

Lynch said she has been battling "misinformation and hype" since she returned from Iraq, badly injured, to discover a media depiction of her as "the little girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia who went down fighting. It was not true."

NNE in Iraq

The 24-hour coverage of the shooting spree at Virginia Tech might give you the impression that this is the worst thing to recently happen in the world. Although the massacre of 32 people is painful, pointless and heartrending, it is not nearly as bad as a typical day in Baghdad. NNE is the newsroom phrase applied to deaths far from home: Not Nearly Enough to warrant special attention.

Car bombs kill at least 172 in Baghdad

By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD -- Five car bombs exploded in and around Iraq's capital Wednesday, killing at least 172 people and injuring more than 220 in the deadliest day since U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a much-publicized security crackdown two months ago.

The deadliest attack killed 140 people in Baghdad's Sadriya district, which was still recovering from a February car bombing that killed at least 130 people in a busy marketplace. The attacks could be a setback for U.S. and Iraqi security forces, which on Feb. 13 announced an aggressive plan to deploy thousands of additional personnel in and around Baghdad.

Bush Going Downhill Fast

Paging Rosemary Woods

Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal features an 18 1/2 minute gap in a crucial secretly-made White House tape recording. Nixon aides tried to pin the wiped out conversation on a "transcription error" by his secretary of 20 years, Rose Mary Woods. Evidence showed that eight separate erasures were made to the pivotal tape. Congressional investigations intothe Watergate break-in and cover-up created a crescendo of public disapproval that resulted in GOP leaders forcing Nixon out the door--the first person ever to resign the presidency.

Now, Bush has his own version of the Rosemary Woods incident: the dog ate my email.

Officials' e-mail may be missing, White House says

By Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The White House said today that it may have lost what could amount to thousands of messages sent through a private e-mail system used by political guru Karl Rove and at least 50 other top officials, an admission that stirred anger and dismay among congressional investigators.

The e-mails were considered potentially critical evidence in congressional inquiries launched by Democrats into the role partisan politics may have played in such policy decisions as the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The White House said an effort was underway to see whether the messages could be recovered from the computer system, which was operated and paid for by the Republican National Committee as part of an effort to separate political communications from those dealing with official business.

If that's not bad enough, even the generals don't want to run Bush's wars.

3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'

Bush Seeks Overseer For Iraq, Afghanistan

By Peter Baker and Thomas Ricks, Washington Post

The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation.

At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military.

"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job.