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Army covers up soldier dissenters assassination Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_6514262http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_6514262
General reprimanded over Tillman probe
WAXMAN TO HOLD HOUSE HEARING TODAY
By Neil A. Lewis
New York Times
San Jose Mercury News
08/01/2007 01:33:08 AM PDT
WASHINGTON - The Army moved Tuesday to stanch the furor over the mishandling of the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan by censuring a retired three-star general for errors and deceptions and apologizing profusely to the Tillman family and the public for "mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership."
Army Secretary Pete Geren outlined the results and recommendations of the seventh and what he said he expected to be the Army's final investigation of the shooting death of Tillman, a San Jose native and former NFL player-turned-soldier, and its aftermath. The report asserted that there was no cover-up of the shooting, which officials decided was a tragic battlefield accident and not a murder.
The report by Gen. William S. Wallace concluded that Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger failed to follow procedures requiring him to notify the Tillman family and top officials about the investigation into the possibility of friendly fire and then lied to two sets of investigators about when he knew that Tillman's death was caused by shots fired by fellow Army Rangers.
Geren agreed with the report's recommendation that Kensinger be censured and that a review board consider reducing him in rank to a two-star general. The reduction in rank would reduce his monthly pension of $9,000 by about $900, according to the Associated Press.
Geren was unreserved in his criticism of Kensinger, who at the time of the shooting in April 2004 was the head of special operations for the Army.
Geren said that at that time, Kensinger provided a report to the acting secretary of the Army "that he knew to be false, which was his own sworn testimony," and that he failed to show leadership.
After Tillman's death in a remote canyon near the village of Magar, the Army announced that he was killed in combat by Afghan militants, although many officers knew that he had been a casualty of friendly fire. The military waited nearly five weeks before telling his family he was not killed by enemy fire.
In addition to the actions taken against Kensinger, the Army issued "memorandums of concern" to two brigadier generals, one retired and one active, and to three lower-ranking officers.
Another memorandum of concern was sent to a third brigadier general who was not directly involved in the reporting chain about the shooting death, but who failed to forward a report with a medical examiner's concerns about the bullet wounds. Because the medical report suggested the wounds may have been inflicted at close range, investigators questioned members of Tillman's unit as to whether he might have been resented enough for someone to try and kill him.
Although Geren said he hoped the latest actions would put to rest the suspicions and resentment surrounding the case, that is not likely to happen.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Los Angeles, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has scheduled a hearing on Tillman's death today. He has called several top military officials as witnesses, including former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who signaled Tuesday he would appear.
Tillman's family has been withering in its criticism of the military. His mother, Mary Tillman, offered a pre-emptive dismissal of Tuesday's actions, telling a columnist for the Arizona Republic that reports of the possible demotion of Kensinger and other actions would be "a complete donkey show."
She said she continued to believe that there was some sort of cover-up.
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