>Pat Tillman – Is the US Govt covering up something?

>I am not the type who would pay much attention to fallen US soldiers who fought the Vietnam, Iraq or Afghan wars. That’s because I believe in doing so, it would be insulting the real victims of war – the civilians whom the US soldiers kill, maim and torture.

However, for Pat Tillman, I am making an exception. I believe that he truly died a hero. Not because he fought the foreign enemy, but because he fought the enemy within – The US Govt.

This is the true story of Pat Tillman. An American Football star who turned down a multi-million dollar contract to serve the US Army – so that he could fight the enemy in Afghanistan. Or so he thought.

In 2004, Tillman was killed in combat. The US govt was only too eager to make him a hero, awarding his family the Silver Star. It turned out that the US govt lied the way he died so as to shore up public American support for the protracted Afghan War. This is Tillman’s story, and his family’s struggle to find the truth.

The Tillman Story Trailer

As it turned out, the govt lies could not hold. Soon the story changed and it was reported that Tillman was killed in a friendly fire.
What Happened To Pat Tillman?
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf

However, what is even more intriguing in a story of twists and turns, is that many suspect that Tillman was murdered – and that’s because he was about to speak too much. You can do a search on the internet and see many stories about why it was murder and not even friendly fire.

I find the following article below probably has the most relevant point. Tillman was about to tell the world when he comes home after his duty in Afghanistan, why the Afghan War is wrong. That would be a disaster because instead of a high profile Football Star being used to support the war, the US Army would now have that very star campaigning against the war.

Who Killed Pat Tillman?

Apparently a meeting between Tillman and Chomsky was planned for after Pat’s return to the U.S., but he never returned. Instead, he was killed – under circumstances that Pat’s mother, Mary, has always characterized as “murky,” at best, and that seem, to my eye, at least, suspicious at worst. And it isn’t just me. Now the release of thousands of pages of documents by the Pentagon, as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request, raise even more questions about the circumstances surrounding Pat Tillman’s death:

“Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

“’The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,’ a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

“The doctors – whose names were blacked out – said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.”

This occurs after at least three investigations have supposedly been conducted, in which Tillman’s death was attributed to “friendly fire,” adding to the strong suspicion that there’s something they’re not telling us – something they have been trying desperately to cover up. “The Army used him,” says his mother. “They knew right away he was killed by fratricide and [they] used him for their own purposes to promote the war, to get sympathy for the war, for five weeks.”

Mary Tillman has long suggested that her son was deliberately murdered by his fellow soldiers. After initially dismissing her allegations as a case of grief-gone-over-the-edge, I’ve come to believe that there is something awfully fishy about this whole incident.

After all, why were Army attorneys sending “congratulatory e-mails” to each other for fending off criminal investigators on the case? The general who kept the details of Tillman’s death from the Tillman family and the public claimed that he was having a problem with his memory, and that’s why he just couldn’t recall any important details of how Tillman’s death was handled. Doctors who tried to reconcile the forensic evidence with the official account urged that a criminal investigation be pursued, but they were rebuffed. What’s really suspicious, however, is that evidence of enemy fire at the scene was singularly lacking: no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any equipment damaged. According to numerous reports, there were no Taliban in the area.

Chomsky is a high profile anti-war activist, well known not only in the US, but around the world. If Tillman were to have that meeting with Chomsky, it would be big news that the guy who sacrificed his football career to fight the Afghan war is now an anti-war activist. The US Govt could not afford that.

Here is a discussion on Tillman’s death, which appears to be murder, on MSNBC.
Pat Tillman Murdered?

Kevin Tillman, Pat’s brother giving a piece of his mind -
How they lied when Pat Tillman Died

So was Tillman murdered or was it an accident?

What we know for sure is that Tillman was not the American Hero who charged up against enemy forces to save his men. That was a plain lie by the US Govt.

Murder or accident, The Tillman Story is a true tale of US Govt Lies, one family’s struggle to find the truth, America’s baggage of war in Afghanistan, and how the world is deceived to support an illegal war that has lasted nearly 10 years now.

Certainly a good movie not to be missed.

But good movie or not, this episode is about one man’s courage to tell the world that what the US Govt does in Afghanistan is morally wrong. He paid the price with his life. Truly, he is a hero fighting the enemy not in Afghanistan, but the enemy within the US Govt.

>US just can’t let go, it hopelessly hangs onto Afghanistan

>In 2001, when US invaded Afghanistan, Bush said it was to get Osama bin Laden. The Taliban was willing to hand over Osama to a third party, but Bush, bent on invading, would not have any of that. He needed a reason to go to war – because it was planned all along even before 911.

The plan was to displace the Taliban with a more US-friendly govt in Afghanistan, so as to facilitate the construction of a 800-km oil pipeline from the Caspian region through Afghanistan. I discussed that in this link.
PM Lee’s Support on Iraq War – Is it right?

Greed for Oil

It is no secret that the real agenda for the invasion of Iraq is its oil reserves. What is less known is that Afghanistan was also invaded for the same reason – oil. Prior to 11 Sep 2001, before the WTC terror attacks, the US had already planned a regime change in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban. The idea was to install a government other than the Taliban who would be more friendly to the US. This would enhance the chances of an 800km oil pipeline across Afghanistan, that was planned to be built from the Caspian to Pakistan/India.

This link shows the document pertaining to the case UNOCAL, an American oil company, presented to the US government. It is dated 12 Feb 1998 to Congress (scroll to the top to see date).

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa48119.000/hfa48119_0.HTM#30

STATEMENT OF JOHN J. MARESCA, VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNOCAL CORPORATION

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s nice to see you again. I am John Maresca, vice president for international relations of the Unocal Corporation. Unocal, as you know, is one of the world’s leading energy resource and project development companies. I appreciate your invitation to speak here today. I believe these hearings are important and timely. I congratulate you for focusing on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and the role they play in shaping U.S. policy.

I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, the need for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced and lasting political settlements to the conflicts in the region, including Afghanistan. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in the region. In this regard, we specifically support repeal or removal of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.

Mr. Chairman, the Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon reserves. Just to give an idea of the scale, proven natural gas reserves equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region’s total oil reserves may well reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil. Some estimates are as high as 200 billion barrels. In 1995, the region was producing only 870,000 barrels per day. By 2010, western companies could increase production to about 4.5 million barrels a day, an increase of more than 500 percent in only 15 years. If this occurs, the region would represent about 5 percent of the world’s total oil production.

One major problem has yet to be resolved: how to get the region’s vast energy resources to the markets where they are needed. ……

….The second option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed for American companies because of U.S. sanctions legislation. The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which has of course its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare for almost two decades, and is still divided by civil war. From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company. ….

….Last October, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Consortium, called CentGas, in which Unocal holds an interest, was formed to develop a gas pipeline which will link Turkmenistan’s vast Dauletabad gas field with markets in Pakistan and possibly India. The proposed 790-mile pipeline will open up new markets for this gas, traveling from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Multan in Pakistan. The proposed extension would move gas on to New Delhi, where it would connect with an existing pipeline. As with the proposed Central Asia oil pipeline, CentGas can not begin construction until an internationally recognized Afghanistan Government is in place.

As can be seen from the above document, there was intention to replace the Taliban since Feb 1998, more than three years before the Sep 11 2001 attacks. The issue was not terror but oil.

Well, now there is more reason for US to keep occupying Afghanistan. Here’s what the media is reporting.

U.S. Identifies Vast riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

Now why would US geologists and Pentagon officials put in time, money and effort going round finding such materials in the first place? Officially, US was there to get Osama, not find gold and minerals, right? Or it was there to build the pipeline, right?

Is it perhaps just a bluff to tell Americans that all the wasted lives of young American soldiers (yeah, never mind Afghan civilians because to US, they don’t count) are worth it, because of the vast resources that are available?

This reminds me of how the Europeans would go round the world pillaging minerals from other continents and displacing the natives.

Perhaps it is a bluff, as what the author of this article appears to be implying.

Afghanistan’s ‘Vast Riches Of Minerals’ Highlighted By Pentagon

Read a little more carefully, though, and you realize that there’s less to this scoop than meets the eye. For one thing, the findings on which the story was based are online and have been since 2007, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. More information is available on the Afghan mining ministry’s website, including a report by the British Geological Survey (and there’s more here). You can also take a look at the USGS’s documentation of the airborne part of the survey here, including the full set of aerial photographs.

Nowhere have I found that $1 trillion figure mentioned, which Risen says was generated by a Pentagon task force looking to help the Afghan government develop its resources (looking at the chart accompanying the article, though, it appears to be a straightforward tabulation of the total reserve figures for each mineral times current the current market price). According to Risen, that task force has begun prepping the mining ministry to start soliciting bids for mineral rights in the fall.

So is the find to be believed? Either way, this seems more of a curse than a blessing to the Afghans. If the report of the finding is true, you can expect the US to occupy Afghanistan for a long time and the Afghans be left poorer for it.

If it is false, it also means that the Pentagon intends for the US to stay in Afghanistan for a long time and simply pulled a bluff on Americans (to get them to continue to support the war), so that they can get that long overdue 800 km pipeline constructed.

Heck, oil pipeline or minerals in Afghanistan, do remember that when the Europeans pillaged the Lands of the Native North and South American peoples, they not only stole their land, gold and other precious minerals, they also displaced the natives from their homes, raped their women and children, killed their men and committed many more untold crimes.

Isn’t that what’s happening in today’s Afghanistan?

So who’s the civilized and who’s the uncivilized? The Europeans or the Natives? Likewise, who’s the terrorists and who are the victims? The US military or the Afghan population?

>Opium Spells $$$ For US in Afghanistan

>Let’s face it. The “war on terror” is nothing about terror. It is all about $$$. The main reason for the invasion of Afghanistan was because of the deal to build a 800-km oil pipeline from the oil-rich Caspian through the country, to the India/Pakistan region. That deal although signed, has never been implemented, no thanks to America unable to win the Afghan War.

However, there is another reason for Americans to be there. Opium. Yes, did you know that opium is one of the biggest trade in the world? Below is a news report about that Afghan Opium Trade. Note that the news is trying to present that America are the good guys and are trying to wean the Afghans away from the trade. This is utter rubbish. When the Taliban was in control, the opium trade nearly died. It thrived again, when US invaded.

We Tolerate The Cultivation Of Opium Poppies

Note that the report is implicating Taliban is behind the drug trade and the Americans are having a hard time winning the war because if they eradicate the drug trade, they lose favour from the Afghans.

This is pure bull. As we can see in this article below, the US loves the drug trade so much, some states are even thinking of making it legal, so that they can earn tax revenue on it. This “we are not winning in Afghanistan because Taliban is using drug money” is just an excuse that the US is an incompetent force, unable to win the war on the ground.

US in Deep Doodoo – Legalizing Drug Trade for Tax Revenue?

Yes, let’s remember who is supporting the Drug Trade in Afghanistan.

Those are poppy plants in Afghanistan. Yes, drugs come from poppies. And American troops are protecting them!

>Afghanistan – Vietnam Redux

>The American Military Machinery, with all its sophisticated weapons and system, could not defeat the Viets. In fact, US lost the war – although America won’t admit that. During the Vietnam War, the Americans managed to control pockets of villages and towns, only to lose control later to the Viets. Looks like the same old story is happening in Afghanistan.

In the short video clip below, we see how the Americans abandoned a base. The Americans claim that they are “repositioning troops”. But there are telltale signs that it was actually more of it being either overrun, or hastily abandoned because US troops could not defend it.

Telltale signs like the American troops destroying its own cache of ammunition. Would you do that if you had the time and luxury to take it with you? Even more telling is that in spite of the deliberate destruction of their own ammo, there are lots of undestroyed weapons, ammo and fuel left behind – a clear indication that it was done in a hurried manner.

The Taliban, which took over the base says it all – they will use the weapons, ammo and fuel the Americans left behind against the Americans themselves.

US military base under Taliban control

If the video does not play, click on the link above.

>US in Deep Doodoo – Legalizing Drug Trade for Tax Revenue?

>California is set to proposes to legalize the use of marijuana? Not only for medicinal purposes but for recreational purposes too? What the heck is happening to America?

See video here.
It’s Time To Legalize Marijuana! Judge Napolitano

Under this proposal, those who are above age 21 will be able to legally grow, buy, sell and smoke marijuana. Proponents are saying that this is good for tax revenue!

Look at how an ex-judge justifies this mad proposal.

0:50 min
Senior Fox News Judicial Analysts, Judge Napolitano, gives opinion that now is the good time to “do this” (meaning to legalize marijuana). Says probation has been a dismal failure. The govt has spent US$50b prosecuting drug abusers. He says as a former judge, he is frustrated having to lock up someone who doesn’t cause harm to someone else. He also says society is in the Victorian age, but he is Libertarian and believes a person should be able to make a choice for himself – so long as that choice does not hurt anybody else.

(This ex-judge has gotta be smokin’ pot himself! So selling drugs is not hurting someone else? Just like teaching young kids how to be gay or promiscuous is not hurting someone else?)

1:40 min
Host comments that parents won’t be happy about that. Napolitano replies, that this is not going to be available for children just like alcohol won’t be available for children. Points out that it is the voters who will decide and not Legislature. So it will be the people’s choice.

2:50 min
Host comments that it is already difficult to get people not to drink and drive, so if smoking marijuana is made legal, won’t it be a another problem? Napalitano replies govt should be concerned about people making choice for themselves than about taking care of them.

Here is another link about the legalization of marijuana in California.
Marijuana legalization officially on California ballot

Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified that the petitions seeking to place the question on the ballot had more than 433,971 valid voter signatures, the minimum number needed to qualify.

If approved, the initiative would allow those 21 years and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, enough to roll several marijuana cigarettes. Residents also could cultivate the plant in limited quantities.

Solo Bear’s Comments -
Let’s face it. America (especially California) is in deeeeeep doodoo. It has a lot of debts. As such, it is hoped that the marijuana industry would prop up the economy and to bring those tax dollars to the US. Yeah, it ain’t about free choice of the individual, Napolitano, it is about $$$$$$.

One of the reasons of this cause of economic disaster America is facing now is due to its funding of two wars it has been embroiled for nearly the whole of this decade.

As for this marijuana thingie, who do you think is one of the biggest exporters? Wanna know? Afghanistan! Yeah, so that’s why US is not willing to pull out of there. Ironically, in Afghanistan, when it was under the Taliban, the drug industry was almost dead. No thanks to the yanks, this industry is now booming.

Ooooh, what an excellent time to legalize the drug trade, no?

Here’s more news about NATO objecting to Russia’s attempt to eradicate the drug trade in Afghanistan.

NATO rejects Russian call for Afghan poppy spraying

Russia’s anti-drugs czar, Victor Ivanov, met NATO ambassadors in Brussels and proposed that NATO troops be given a U.N. mandate and an obligation to eradicate Afghan opium crops, which were killing 30,000 Russians a year.

But NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the drug problem had to be handled carefully to avoid alienating local people. He said the alliance was continuing efforts to target drug lords and drug labs, but added at a news briefing:

“We cannot be in a situation where we remove the only source of income of people who live in the second poorest country in the world without being able to provide them with an alternative.”

But, but….. wasn’t the drug trade almost got eradicated by the Taliban (yeah those uncivlized Talibans killed and lynched about anybody, no?) before the war? Those villagers still managed to make a living through other means, no?

Well, like I said, the drug money is just too good. Ooooh, look at those $$$$$$…..

In the meantime, let’s see what the US is up to as far as the drug trade in Afghanistan is concerned…

Spraying fake herbicides? Oh yes, you need to make sure that those poppies are in good condition to be shipped to the US.

US Soldiers and locals in Afghani-poppy-stan. As long as US keeps those poppy plants alive and well to feed those villagers, those nasty Talibans who outlawed drugs won’t have a stinking chance to make a come back. Yeeeee-haw!

Ah, the smell of poppies, made in America. What? Don’t you know that Afghanistan is the 51st State of America? We’ve been here nearly a decade now and no one has claimed a right against us.

>Afghanistan – Vietnam Replayed

>During the Vietnam War last century, all the superior weaponry from the US could not match the simple bamboo stick (in the form of the punji stick). The punji stick is a sharpened bamboo cut and placed to form traps, hidden in the ground and were very effective against US infantry soldiers.

Today, we see in Afghanistan, a replay of David defeating Goliath. Again, all the sophisticated American weaponry is unable to match the deadly Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which is made from simple fertilizers and diesel. What makes them so deadly is that because there are no metallic parts, the Americans’ sophisticated mine-identifying machines are rendered useless. Note that the punji sticks were also difficult to locate.

IED attacks in Afghanistan more lethal
Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — Attacks on U.S. and allied forces with makeshift bombs in Afghanistan are 50% more lethal than three years ago, reflecting insurgents’ use of more powerful explosives and the increased vulnerability of troops who patrol more on foot than in the past.

Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Organization, told a House subcommittee that the casualty rate was “disturbing” and half that of troops hit by IEDs in Iraq.

Overall, IED attacks have doubled over the past year in Afghanistan, Oates said. It was even worse when comparing February 2010 with February 2009, attributed in part to a Marine-led offensive in the town of Marjah in Helmand province. This year, insurgents planted 721 bombs compared with 291 last year. Those attacks killed or wounded 204 troops this February compared with 51 in February 2009.

Below is a link to a video clip showing you that it costs only US$10 each to make these IEDs. These devices can paralyze million dollar US tanks. It didn’t cost much to the Viets making those punji traps too, did it? It costs the Taliban just $10 to destroy million-dollar U.S. military vehicles.

The purpose of the Afghan Invasion is to secure the land to build an oil pipeline from the Caspian through Afghanistan. It was never about Osama or terror. Same with Iraq, where the purpose is to secure oil. Not about Saddam.

In the eyes of Afghan civilians, the US is the oppressor while Afghan militants are simply fighting for their land back. Hey, that’s the way the Viets saw it too, no?