“If it was good enough for your daddy/granddaddy’s war it’s good enough for yours,” seems to be what the Pentagon is saying with regards to trying to hype the accomplishments of Pat Tillman – whose character assassination by the left continues to this day – and Jessica Lynch, the young woman whose convoy was ambushed resulting in severe injuries and her capture by the Iraqis.
The problem is times have changed and trying to manufacture heroes for public admiration and to build support for military action has long since outlived its usefulness, not to mention that the tactic has fallen victim to an ever more intrusive and curious press whose sympathies cannot be counted on to cover up the truth when what really occurs on the battlefield comes to light.
That last is especially relevant in Tillman’s case where higher ups evidently tried to enlist Tillman’s comrades in a scheme to suppress the truth about his death by friendly fire:
The last soldier to see Army Ranger Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O’Neal, told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge—especially to the Tillman family—that a fellow soldier killed Tillman.O’Neal particularly wanted to tell fellow soldier Kevin Tillman, who was in the convoy traveling behind his brother at the time of the 2004 incident in Afghanistan.
“I wanted right off the bat to let the family know what had happened, especially Kevin, because I worked with him in a platoon and I knew that he and the family all needed to know what had happened,” O’Neal testified. “I was quite appalled that when I was actually able to speak with Kevin, I was ordered not to tell him.”
Asked who gave him the order, O’Neal replied that it came from his battalion commander, then-Lt. Col. Jeff Bailey.
“He basically just said … ‘Do not let Kevin know, that he’s probably in a bad place knowing his brother’s dead,’ ” O’Neal told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman. “And he made it known I would get in trouble, sir, if I spoke with Kevin on it being fratricide.”
How Tillman’s commanding officer and higher ups in the Pentagon thought they could keep secret the circumstances surrounding the young man’s death is indicative of a military mindset not attuned to the times we live in. The fact that Pat Tillman was a high profile enlistee and that his death would generate intense scrutiny seems to have escaped the mossbacks and pencil pushers in the Pentagon who only saw propaganda gold when viewing Tillman’s death. A similar denseness captivated the officers and higher ups at the Pentagon when Jessica Lynch was rescued. The young woman was made into a “Little Girl Rambo” according to Ms. Lynch herself:
The former US private Jessica Lynch today condemned what she said were Pentagon efforts to turn her into a “little girl Rambo”, and accused military chiefs of using “elaborate tales” to try to make her into a hero of the Iraq war.Speaking at a congressional hearing on the use of misleading information, an emotional Ms Lynch described how she suffered horrific injuries when her vehicle was hit by a rocket near the Iraqi town of Nasiriya in March 2003, killing several of her companions.
The Pentagon initially put out the story that Private Lynch – a slight woman who was just 19 at the time – had been wounded by Iraqi gunfire but kept fighting until her ammunition ran out. In fact, her gun had jammed and she did not fire a shot.
Pat Tillman was a hero not because of how he died but because of how he lived, eschewing a huge contract with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL to enlist following 9/11. And Jessica Lynch’s heroism is the heroism of hundreds of thousands of young Americans who have answered the call to serve a purpose higher than themselves and enlist in the US armed forces. She also endured her injuries and capture with a singular stoicism while remaining true to her fallen friends and comrades in arms.
Isn’t this enough for the myth makers in the Pentagon? The American people today are much more sophisticated and skeptical than their counterparts who manned the homefront during World War II and Korea. Viet Nam saw to that. Aided by a skeptical and at times, openly hostile press, we look upon military pronouncements about the war with a cynicism born of experience and leavened by pundits and talking heads who tear into the information coming from the military using as a baseline the idea that nothing that comes from the Pentagon can be believed.
This situation was not helped by Rumsfeld’s rosy scenarios and “the glass is half full” press conferences. It drove many of us who support the war absolutely bonkers to hear the former Defense Secretary or the Vice President (“last throes,” anyone?) give briefings that bore little resemblance to the worsening situation in Baghdad and Anbar province not to mention downplaying the numbers of insurgents, the infiltration of the militias into the police and military, the Interior Ministry death squads and secret torture chambers, and a host of other “glass half empty” benchmarks that, while certainly not good news, would have given the American people a more complete picture of what was going on in Iraq.
The point that propaganda doesn’t work anymore – not in the current atmosphere of press scrutiny and suspicion – seems to be lost on the Pentagon officials who tried to pump up the circumstances surrounding the death of Pat Tillman and rescue of Jessica Lynch. They are living in the past if they believe they can get away with it. And the hell of it is, it besmirches the life and yes, legend of Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch; two Americans who were simply answering the call to serve and fulfilled their obligations with a startling devotion to duty and their country.
I sincerely hope the Pentagon has learned a lesson from this very public and humiliating expose of their PR machinations. Perhaps they could highlight the very real and unbelievable heroism of people like Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor who threw himself on a live grenade and died saving his comrades. Or the 19 Navy SEALs and Special Operation Aviation Regiment (SOAR) members who lost their lives on a rescue mission in Afghanistan. Or any of the countless other Americans, living and dead, who have honored the flag, their comrades, and their country by sacrificing so much in the cause of freedom.
UPDATE
Good for Don Surber:
Why did Pentagon officials lie? Their distortions gained so little in the short-term and undercut the war efforts in the long-term. Heads should roll.
Contrast that with the myopia exhibited by Powerline:
There is no question that the initial misreporting of the circumstances of Tillman’s death was stupid and improper. The claim of a government conspiracy to cover up the facts, however, is ludicrous. If you read the fine print in the article linked above, you find that Tillman died on April 22, 2004. His family was told that the cause was friendly fire on May 29, 2004, barely a month later. The same day, the Army publicly announced that friendly fire was the apparent cause.
So once the facts became clear and the matter rose to a level above the commanders in the field, the Army publicized the result of its investigation. For the Democrats and Kevin Tillman to try to make political hay out of this one-month delay, three years after the fact, casts them in a worse light than it does the Army.
Conspiracy? Perhaps too strong a word. But the fact that there is direct testimony from one of Tillman’s comrades that he was told not to divulge the circumstances surrounding Tillman’s death in the immediate aftermath of the incident is telling indeed. And the fact that both Tillman’s commanding officer and higher ups in the chain of command knew right away that Tillman’s death was due to friendly fire calls into question the 5 week delay in giving Tillman’s family the truth.
I don’t care about Kevin Tillman’s politics (which were radicalized by this incident, him being a conservative prior to the death of his brother) but I sure would be angry if I had to wait 5 weeks to find out the truth about my brother’s death.
8:02 am
This quote from Lynch interests me – She continued, “I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary. People like Lori Piestewa and First Sergeant Dowdy who picked up fellow soldiers in harm’s way. Or people like Patrick Miller and Sergeant Donald Walters who actually fought until the very end.â€
Could it be the Pentagon picked the pretty blonde to make a hero? I’d like to know more about what Lori Piestewa (an American Indian or whatever the PC term is this week) and First Sergeant Dowdy did.
The media is not blameless here, either. Remember that lying about Jessica Lynch helped get former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair fired.
At any rate, Lynch’s testimony and her repeated references to the real heroism of her mates makes me have a good deal of respect for her.
8:05 am
I wonder if there is anything that could be done by the military or the Bush administration that Powerline would not defend.
Pat Tillman’s death was a tragic mistake but that doesn’t detract in any way from his heroism. He gave up everything for his country.
8:28 am
A someone who spent a career in the military, I condemn the actions of the Army in this incident in the strongest possible way. There is no excuse. There was a conspiracy – perhaps not a huge one that permeated the entire military establishment, but certainly one among at least a few key players to hide the truth. Tillman got the silver star for actions that day – his silver star citation is a complete lie.
Tillman was a hero but that is all tarnished now because of the actions of the Army. I say the Army because I think the problem lies there – not with the DoD, not with the OSD, not with the other services.
No excuse. Dishonor. Heads should roll, but knowing the spineless senior leadership in the Army, they won’t.
9:27 am
Speaking of O’Neal’s testimony: I was horrified to learn that his statement regarding the events that led to Tillman’s death had been altered. And that the Army still has “figured out” who did it.
I was also very disturbed by the testimony regarding what actually happened that day. Particularly the part in which the “friendly fire” stopped, leading Tillman and others to believe that it was over, only to start up again! Obviously something went very wrong there—and again, it appears that no one has been held accountable. Which leads one to wonder what was really being covered up?
9:35 am
Web Reconnaissance for 04/25/2007…
A short recon of whatÂ’s out there that might draw your attention….
9:40 am
Trackbacked by The Thunder Run – Web Reconnaissance for 04/25/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
11:02 am
Tillman’s Fellow Ranger Admits Cover-Up…
An Army Ranger who was with Pat Tillman when he died by friendly fire said he was told by a higher-u…
11:14 am
CQ Radio: Heading Right And Rick Moran…
Today’s installment of CQ Radio will feature one of my good friends in the blogosphere, Rick Moran of the Right Wing Nut House. Rick has written excellent commentary for serious conservatives for the last few years at his site,......
11:26 am
I agree with everything you say in your post but everyone knows the Lynch and Tillman names. How many know the names of the two medal of honor winners in this war? How does the Pentagon counter the heavy left-leaning tilt of the MSM and get the stories of real heroes out there? How do they get the message out that this war is far from lost, by any rational measure?
12:16 pm
How does the Pentagon counter the heavy left-leaning tilt of the MSM and get the stories of real heroes out there? How do they get the message out that this war is far from lost, by any rational measure?
——-
Good grief….what a line of logic. The adminstration has to lie because of the evil MSM….
And for “agreeing with everything” in the post, you missed the point by a far mark: the adminstration’s credibility on “how the war is going” is shot to hell because of their constant stupid rosy statements.
The righties can blame the MSM for “losing” the war all they want, but it says something when the people of this country have more faith in what the MSM tells them than what the administration tells them. And that is 100% the fault of this administration, which has done a terrible, terrible job of selling this war to the people.
Lets face it: the administration has put itself between a rock and a hard place. Out of one side of their mouth, they say that the insurgency is getting crushed and we are making progress. Out of the other side, they say that we can’t leave and must increase our presence because the insurgency is so strong. So which is it?
12:38 pm
Ugg. The posts you provided from some members of the left are ugly and stupid beyond all reason. The efforts in Iraq were poorly coceived and even more poorly executed, but Pat Tillman stood up when he didn’t have to and he and his family are to be honored for their sacrifices and for his bravery.
If the handling of his death does not constitute a coverup, then facts are meaningless.
12:48 pm
When citing those fringe elements, it would be at least fair to acknowledge the fact that Tillman was far left himself (I guess, being a fan of Chomsky makes you far left).
1:33 pm
Spc O’Neal is using damning and incorrect words. Under any reading of this issue, Tillman was NOT killed by fratricide. Any vet can tell you: fratricide is the INTENTIONAL killing of a fellow soldier or officer. There has been no evidence or allegations of this.
3:41 pm
And where, in this, is the Inspectors General of the Army and DoD? Such accusations should go to them first. Congress could have asked for the IGs to go through this and report on it before holding a single public hearing. If Congress believes that the IGs are corrupt, then it is time to hold hearings… about the IG process and institute something to fix it. That is a slow process, yes, and does not always come to great conclusion… but it happens out of the limelight and gets information from all of those inside the decision process and documents it.
Why the grandstanding? Did the IGs come forward with reports prior to this? Did they put forth that there is a problem in the process? Or does Congress suspect the IGs of not doing their job? This sort of process must go through those laws set by Congress and when Congress intervenes it also starts changing the character of testimony and some of that may not thereafter be available to the IGs. If you want a non-political military system, then use the non-political process set up to find, identify and rectify such things. That is if you want a non-partisan set of armed forces.
We do want that here, yes?
Because the grandstanding by either party hurts that process. Only when Congress sees it fail does that require hearings and such. Putting it before the cameras first is not the way to do it. Unless you are aiming to make things partisan…
5:30 pm
Joey – You misunderstood my comment, probably my fault, but I was not suggesting that it was ok to lie to sell the war. My husband (active duty military) and I constantly decry attempts to lie and cover up situations. Tell the truth and take your licks. I guess I should have said, how should/could the administration done a better of selling the war.
10:25 pm
How petty and small-minded! Embellishment of heroic war stories in order to inspire people is an ancient literary tradition going back to Homer’s day, if not earlier. One is not supposed to take them literally. Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman represent photogenic archetypes of our brave fighting men and women. While the stories told about them may not be literally true, they portray a larger “big picture” truth, which is entirely valid. Reasonable people understand this. If Waxman and company think they can make hay out of this to advance their nefarious schemes, they will be sorely disappointed.
11:42 pm
“A similar denseness captivated the officers and higher ups at the Pentagon when Jessica Lynch was rescued. The young woman was made into a “Little Girl Rambo‒
The ‘little girl rambo’ stuff came from one anonymous source in one Washington Post story from 3 April. Then it was repeated constantly by every other media source and outlet. No DOD official ever confirmed any of that stuff on the record that I can recall. The Post story, byline Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb, also contained this graf:
“Several officials cautioned that the precise sequence of events is still being determined, and that further information will emerge as Lynch is debriefed. Reports thus far are based on battlefield intelligence, they said, which comes from monitored communications and from Iraqi sources in Nasiriyah whose reliability has yet to be assessed. Pentagon officials said they had heard “rumors” of Lynch’s heroics but had no confirmation.”
The monitored comms and iraqi source referred to in the graf above described the heroic actions of SGT Donald Walters which were mistakenly attributed to Jessica Lynch.
1:44 pm
See Ray Robinson’s piece:
americanthinker.com/2007/04/media_lynch_mob.html
12:45 am
Submitted for Your Approval…
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council li…
10:59 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House, “Changing Times Require Telling the Truth in Wartime†[...]
1:29 am
The Council Has Spoken!...
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi by…