AP : Army Gen. Warned Superiors to Tell Bush About Tillman Weeks Before Circumstances of His Death Were Made Public

Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent a memo to his superiors just seven days after the death of Army Ranger Cpl. Pat Tillman warning that President Bush and other political leaders that the former Arizoma Cardinals safety was NOT killed in an ambush, but by friendly fire. Among other things in the memo to Gen. John Abizaid, he wrote:

I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country's leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Cpl. Tillman's death become public.

The Tillman family believes that their son's death was used by the Army and the Bush administration to stem the growing tide of anti-war sentiment in the United States at a time when public opinion was turning more and more against the war. The circumstances of Tillman's death are unusual, and the family believes they have not been fully investigated. Some believe he might have been targeted.

Pat Tillman's Mom : "You're Still Lying"

The family of Cpl. Pat Tillman has issued a scathing response to the US Army's investigation into his death by "friendly fire," calling it "shamefully unacceptable" and demanding a Congressional investigation. The report fails to address many of the strange circumstances surrounding the former Arizona Cardinals safety's death (read the entire original SFGate.com story here). There is some evidence -- circumstantial, perhaps, but evidence nonetheless -- that Tillman was targeted. Mary Tillman believes this is possible.

Mary Tillman said she was not excluding the possibility that her son was shot intentionally.

"Pat was used," she said. "Once he was killed, I think they saw this as an opportunity." She noted that April 2004 was the worst month up to that time in the year-old Iraq war, and the shooting occurred right after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke.

The Army found no evidence of criminal negligence. Pat Tillman's family is, to say the least, suspicious of both the Army's findings and its motivations. They met with Army officials the same moment the results of the investigation were being made public. Mary Tillman told reporters afterward:

The meeting was a travesty, I mean we were lied to. They told us we were abusive, and I responded back that, you know, lying is a form of abuse, and we've been lied to for three years.

But what they did is make up a story. That's not a misstep, and that's not an error. They made up a story, it was presented on national television, and we believe they did that to promote the war.

Indeed. Here's what the family's statement said:

“No one who knew Pat doubted his physical or moral courage,” the statement said. "But the award of the Silver Star appears more than anything to be part of a cynical design to conceal the real events from the family — but most especially from the public — while exploiting the death of our beloved Pat as a recruitment poster.”

Wow. Pat Tillman came from a family of heroes.