The Daily Background

The Chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, Henry Waxman (D-CA), is holding hearings today on the Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch incidents which happened in 2004 and 2003 respectively. Longtime readers know that I’ve been following this for a while (especially recently), and have already read my op-ed earlier this month in the Columbia Chronicle about how there is a pattern of the using incidents in Iraq as propaganda, and lying to the press and the public about what really happened.

Well, it looks as though there will be more to write about soon. Today’s hearings promise to be especially interesting. Watch it live here (scroll down the page for streaming video).

The AP has the folowing interesting detail on the Tillman story:

As the Army probed Pat Tillman’s death, investigators implored the CIA and Pentagon last year to scour their databanks for aerial video of the friendly fire incident, footage they believed might have been captured as a Predator drone flew over the scene.

Lawmakers plan to press the Pentagon on Tuesday with questions still hovering over the one-time National Football League star’s shooting: Was a drone flying overhead when Tillman was killed? Did it videotape the incident?

The military says no such videotape exists, but members of Congress hope to elicit the new information when the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds a hearing as part of an investigation into misleading information from the U.S. military. Members of Tillman’s family, who have continued to raise questions about the incident, were also scheduled to appear.

Intruiging. Especially in light of recent revelations that the Army went to lengths to destroy at least some evidence after Tillman’s death.

Also, remember that this is not the first time that the Pentagon has claimed a video didn’t exist. And if it does exist, it wouldn’t be the first time that the military hid a video that showed a death unfolding in a way that is not consistent with the official story. I mentioned in my op-ed this case:

The family of a British soldier, Matty Hull, was told he died in an ambush. Family members were accused of being “conspiracy theorists” because they didn’t believe the official story. Recently, a secret cockpit video was leaked to the British press that showed American pilots firing on Hull’s convoy after mistaking it for an Iraqi patrol.

Turns out the pilots, who were in a rush, hadn’t even gotten approval for the strike. “We’re in jail, dude,” one of them cries in the video after they get word that a British soldier is burning to death 4,000 feet below them. British and American governments have confirmed the video is authentic, but the pilots have yet to be disciplined.

There will be plenty of video available after the hearing is through, so don’t feel bad if you don’t catch it live. Update: Tillman’s brother Kevin (also an Army Ranger) is practically breaking down in tears at the moment.

Update: “Lies.” That’s the word used several times by both Tillman’s family and Lynch to describe how what the military spread abou their respective stories.

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