#911Truth WTFact #27: 9/11 and Sports Don’t Mix
Did you miss the introduction to this year’s campaign?
During the planning of this year’s Top 50 campaign, we were unsure whether the information relating to sports personalities would be included. This post was made necessary by the 9/11 Truth revelations about Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll which surfaced in June 2013.
Via CBS NY
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Seattle head coach Pete Carroll hosted a retired four-star general at the Seahawks facility last spring and blitzed him with questions about whether the 9/11 attacks “had been planned or faked” by the government, according to Deadspin.com.
Decorated general Peter Chiarelli, who had just called it a career, was discussing football and brain injuries with Carroll before the conversation took a turn, Deadspin reported.
“Every 9/11 conspiracy theory you can think of, Pete asked about,” former NFL linebacker Riki Ellison told Deadspin.
Ellison said Carroll “didn’t stop at 9/11—he had lots of questions about the role of the military today.”
Ellison founded the non-profit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. He connected Carroll with Chiarelli and was at the meeting along with offensive line coach Pat Ruel, according to Deadspin.
“Pete had a four-star general in the room, one of the army’s top guys,” Ellison told the website. “Why wouldn’t you push the envelope?”
It’s unclear whether the exchange went sour. One source close to the general told Deadspin that it got testy, though he wasn’t in the room. Meanwhile, Ellison insisted it was a “fun” discussion.
“Pete grew up in California during Vietnam, and during Watergate,” Ellison said. “That’s just the perspective he brings to the table.”
Consider the difference in tone compared to Rashard Mendenhall, who’s May 2011 comments on the “death” of Bin Laden, were a sore point of contention.
The way that patriotism was linked with sports was really inevitable as those have become our largest public gatherings. As forbidden as it was to question 9/11 in the aftermath, the sports world still cannot handle any adverse comments about the attacks.
Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Nathan Eccleston of Liverpool FC were both roundly criticized for calling into question the origin of the attacks. The stigma we discussed in the introduction is stronger because sports are supposed to be fun and a distraction.
Here is a piece from Yahoo Sports by Chris Chase in which he pulls a Tucker Carlson, similar to a religious zealot denouncing a blasphemer. Chase of course lazily defers to the Osama Bin Laden “confession” tape, which the CIA even admits they faked. No one hears that retraction though. Read his take on Mendenhall’s pensive comments.
Fresh on the heels of his support of Adrian Peterson‘s “NFL as slavery” analogy, Rashard Mendenhall(notes) has taken what’s certain to be another popular position: defending Osama bin Laden.
Let’s go to the tweets:
Is it really amazing that people can hate someone they’ve never heard talk? Was there no hatred before radio? Were people in the U.S. in 1865 ambivalent about John Wilkes Booth because they’d never been to one of his plays and/or didn’t have DVD players? There’s an intellectual conversation at the root of Mendenhall’s initial point — how much should we celebrate the death of a terrorist? — but judging by his other comments, let’s chalk that up to accident. (Plus, who hasn’t heard bin Laden’s voice? His videos have been played countless times in the past decade.)
No, no, Rashard, I think you’re confusing the destruction of the Twin Towers with the end of “The Sopranos.” We all know how the World Trade Center building came down. Two huge planes were flown directly into them and started fires that compromised the structural integrity of the building’s steel thus leading to each to collapse on itself.
Mendenhall wrote another tweet that cast doubt on whether bin Laden was even involved in 9/11. “I’m not convinced he was even behind the attacks we have really seen no evidence to prove it other than the gov telling us,” he wrote.
The tweet has since been removed.
If you’re keeping tabs at home, Mendenhall asserts that he’s never heard bin Laden’s voice and hasn’t see any evidence of his guilt. This video would probably blow his mind then.
[Update: Mendenhall offers 'clarification' of bin Laden comments ]
Look, you won’t hear something you don’t listen to and you can’t see something you haven’t looked at. We’d all be wise to do both in regards to Rashard Mendenhall and his ignorant, faux-intellectual ramblings.
Nathan Eccleston also received similar consternation, just the international version.
He’s quoted on twitter below:
I aint going to say attack. Don’t let the media make u believe that was terrorists that did it
The Daily Star in the UK and other papers took turns bashing him.
NATHAN Eccleston could be booted out of the club by its American owners after claiming on Twitter the 9/11 attacks were not the work of terrorists.
Nathan Eccleston was blitzed with hate messages after Tweeting on the 10th anniversary of the atrocity that he believed it was an accident.
The former England Under-17 international, who has played nine times for the Reds, wrote: “R.I.P 9/11 victims my thoughts are with their familiess and all those affected by this tragic accident!”
He then added: “I aint going to say attack. Don’t let the media make u believe that was terrorists that did it. But I’m not having this debating.”
The 20-year-old Liverpool footballer later removed his comments following a furious response from fans.
Last night a Liverpool FC spokesman said the player’s remarks were being investigated.
He said: “The club takes this matter extremely seriously.”
In the earlier article, Yahoo’s Chase noted that the Mendenhall controversy came on the heels of Adrian Peterson bringing up the only other topic nearly as widely panned in sports, race and slavery. Of all the controversies in sports, this is exactly why 9/11 is the worst possible one to bring up, it’s the most universally offensive because of a long string of expensive lies. It shows why there are only two major examples in sports to point to, especially after Pat Tillman’s death.
The story of Pat Tillman as it relates to 9/11 is very simple. He was a man that walked away from an NFL contract extension in the prime of his career to put on the US uniform and go to one of the most dangerous places on earth at the time. Tillman did all of this because of the 9/11 attacks and when he go to the war’s front lines, he realized most of the justification for the war was based on lies.
Infowars
The evidence points directly to it and the motivation is clear – Tillman abandoned a lucrative career in pro-football immediately after 9/11 because he felt a rampaging patriotic urge to defend his country, and became a poster child for the war on terror as a result. But when he discovered that the invasion of Iraq was based on a mountain of lies and deceit and had nothing to do with defending America, he became infuriated and was ready to return home to become an anti-war hero.As far back as March 2003, immediately after the invasion, Tillman famously told his comrade Spc. Russell Baer, “You know, this war is so fucking illegal,” and urged his entire platoon to vote against Bush in the 2004 election. Far from the gung-ho gruff stereotype attributed to him, Tillman was actually a fiercely intellectual man with the courage of his convictions firmly in place.
Tillman had even begun to arrange meetings with anti-war icons like Noam Chomsky upon his return to America before his death cut short any aspirations of becoming a focal point for anti-war sentiment.
According to Daily Kos , Wesley Clark appeared on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown last night and stated that “the orders came from the very top” to murder Tillman as he was a political symbol and his opposition to the war in Iraq would have rallied the population around supporting immediate withdrawal.
The crime was being investigated and the whistleblowers were silenced.
Infowars
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.
The report also states that “No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene – no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.”
How he died
According to testimony, Tillman, who along with others on the hill waved his arms and yelled “cease fire,” set off a smoke grenade to identify his group as fellow soldiers. There was a momentary lull in the firing, and he and the soldier next to him, thinking themselves safe, relaxed, stood up and started talking. But the shooting resumed. Tillman was hit in the wrist with shrapnel and in his body armor with numerous bullets.
The soldier next to him testified: “I could hear the pain in his voice as he called out, ‘Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat f—ing Tillman, dammit.” He said this over and over until he stopped,” having been hit by three bullets in the forehead, killing him.
The coverup: Yes, the US Army brass knew Tillman’s death was fishy and a warning was passed up the chain of command to not say anything about the circumstances.
An initial investigation by then-Capt. Richard Scott, interviewed all four shooters, their driver, and many others who were there. He concluded within a week that while some of the gunmen demonstrated “gross negligence” others demonstrated “criminal intent” and recommended further investigation to push for the harshest possible criminal sentencing.
But Scott’s report disappeared after circulating briefly among a small corps of high-ranking officers. Some of Tillman’s relatives think the Army buried the report because its findings indicated foul play. Army officials refused to provide a copy to the media, saying no materials related to the investigation could be released. A second investigation was then commenced by a higher ranking officer which called for less severe punishment.
Richard Scott later gave testimony alleging that Army officials allowed witnesses to change key details in their sworn statements so his findings could be softened.
Scott stated “watching some of these guys getting off, what I thought … was a lesser of a punishment than what they should’ve received. And I will tell you, over a period of time … the stories have changed. They have changed to, I think, help some individuals.”
Destroyed evidence.
It was also admitted that soldiers destroyed evidence — Tillman’s uniform and flak vest — after the shooting, claiming that they were a “biohazard”. However another soldier involved offered a contradictory take, saying “the uniform and equipment had blood on them and it would stir emotion” that needed to be suppressed until the Rangers finished their work overseas.
How far the cover up went
Infowars
In a memo sent to a four-star general a week after Tillman’s April 22, 2004, death, then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was “highly possible” the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire. McChrystal made it clear his warning should be conveyed to the president.“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,” McChrystal wrote on April 29, 2004, to Gen. John Abizaid, head of Central Command.
Gee, the same guy that basically got fired over some comments made public by the now deceased journalist Michael Hastings (the guy who’s car blew up in LA and the cops said it careened into a tree), had a role in the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s death.
A spokesman for McChrystal said he had no comment.
McChrystal was, and still is, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, head of “black ops” forces. He has since been promoted to lieutenant general. Abizaid was in charge of American forces in the Middle East and Central Asia.
In his memo, McChrystal said he had heard Bush and Brownlee “might include comments about Cpl. Tillman’s heroism and his approved Silver Star medal in speeches currently being prepared, not knowing the specifics surrounding his death.”
McChrystal said he expected an investigation under way “will find that it is highly possible Cpl. Tillman was killed by friendly fire.”
At the same time, McChrystal said: “The potential that he might have been killed by friendly fire in no way detracts from his witnessed heroism or the recommended personal decoration for valor in the face of the enemy.”
Two days after McChrystal’s memo, US President Stuttery McBush gave a speech on Tillman’s death in which he coolly avoided discussing any details of which may have later been found to be false. A Pentagon investigation into the “confusion” in Tillman’s death ultimately determined that the military command structure covered up the situation.
The investigators recommended that nine Army officers, including McChrystal, be held accountable for errors in reporting the friendly fire death to their superiors and to Tillman’s family. McChrystal was found “accountable for the inaccurate and misleading assertions” contained in papers recommending Tillman get the Silver Star.
Is it any wonder why McChrystal was a trusted ‘operator’ and why Michael Hastings had to die for upsetting the propaganda cart? Here are McChrystal’s fingerprints all over another important murder. Interesting…
Shocking details of the cover up
The document containing Scott’s testimony was reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle . In a published story in September 2005 the Chronicle highlighted the following passage from Scott:
“They had the entire chain of command (inaudible) that were involved, the [deleted], all sticking up for [deleted] … And the reason the [deleted] called me in … because the [deleted] … changed their story in how things occurred and the timing and the distance in an attempt to stick up for their counterpart, implied, insinuated that the report wasn’t as accurate as I submitted it …”
In another section of his testimony, he said witnesses changed details regarding “the distance, the time, the location, the lighting conditions and the positioning” in Tillman’s killing.
There are many other examples of conflicting testimony in the Tillman case including the fact that he may not have been killed immediately and was certainly given CPR hours after being shot in the head three times.
At least one Army officer, the records show, changed his sworn statements about which supervisor had actually ordered the split of the platoon and what conversations had occurred before the order was given.
A further review of the case by the Pentagon’s inspector general, Gen. Gary M. Jones found that Army officers told soldiers to remain quiet about the circumstances of Tillman’s death for fear of negative news coverage.
Digital paper trail to the cover-up
In order to set the bogus Tillman cover story in stone and obscure the truth, “White House staff exchanged more than 200 e-mails concerning Tillman’s death, according to the Oversight Committee report,” notes Juliano. In other words, the corporate media and the neocons were not only busy at work reshaping reality, but engaged in a criminal conspiracy and suppressing evidence, not only in regard to Tillman but the manufactured “hero” Jessica Lynch as well.
Infowars with the thoughts of Tillman’s father on the coverup
Quoted elsewhere Mr Tillman has stated “The administration clearly was using this case for its own political reasons… This cover-up started within minutes of Pat’s death, and it started at high levels. This is not something that (lower-ranking) people in the field do,” he said.
“After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this,” Mr Tillman has said. “They purposely interfered with the investigation …. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out.”
Mr Tillman is certain that a cover up has been perpetrated and believes his son’s death may not even have been an accident.
“There is so much nonstandard conduct, both before and after Pat was killed, that you have to start to wonder,” Mr. Tillman said. “How much effort would you put into hiding an accident? Why do you need to hide an accident?”
Kevin Tillman, Pat’s brother (pictured above) has also been very outspoken and recently slammed the Bush administration and the war in Iraq in a lengthy article .
Mom
“The nation has been deceived,” says Mary Tillman. “It’s now about justice for Pat and justice for the other soldiers.”
As an addendum, Daily Mail’s Charles Laurence highlighted a little known fact.
Could the suggestion that Tillman was going to become a voice for the anti-war movement be why his mother says that a journal he’d kept since was 16 has gone missing?
It disappeared, along with most of his possessions, two days after he died.
Pat Tillman knew…
