Tillman report slams ‘striking lack of recollection’

A proposed report on the misleading information released following the fratricide of ex-NFL player Cpl. Pat Tillman and the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch slams the administration’s “near universal lack of recall” on the issue.

“Cpl. Tillman and Pvt. Lynch are the two most famous soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,” the proposed report of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said. The document, which will be voted on Thursday, called the “misinformation” in both cases an “unconscionable distraction from their actual service and heroism.”

{mosads}Following Tillman’s friendly-fire death in Afghanistan, his family and the public were led to believe that he was killed by enemies. It was also revealed that the first version of Lynch’s capture had been embellished.

“Members of Cpl. Tillman’s family and Pvt. Lynch testified that government officials spread inaccurate accounts of what happened to Cpl. Tillman and Pvt. Lynch on the battlefield,” the document said. “They stated that these misleading narratives provided inspiring stories of heroism for the American public, but they fundamentally mischaracterized the two soldiers’ actual conduct and sacrifice.”

The committee said it had aimed to “look up the chain of command” to determine which top officials knew what and how they reacted.

“On the key issue of what senior officials knew, the investigation was frustrated by a near universal lack of recall,” the proposed report stated. “The committee interviewed several senior officials at the White House, including communications director Dan Bartlett, press secretary Scott McClellan and chief speechwriter Michael Gerson. Not a single one could recall when he learned about the fratricide or what he did in response.”

The document said that neither case involves an act of facts being left out.

“The misinformation was not caused by overlooking or misunderstanding relevant facts,” it stated. “Instead, in both cases affirmative acts created new facts that were significantly different than what the soldiers in the field knew to be true. And in both cases the fictional accounts proved to be compelling public narratives at difficult times in the war.”

The report concluded that, “If the testimony the committee received is accurate and if the documents submitted are complete, then the intense interest that initially characterized the White House’s and Defense Department’s reaction to Cpl. Tillman’s death was followed by a stunning lack of curiosity about emerging reports of fratricide and an incomprehensible carelessness and incompetence in handling this sensitive information.”