Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video from the USA is called Keith Olbermann and the Murder of Pat Tillman 7/27/07.

Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan may be the best known case of the United States Bush administration lying about the deaths of soldiers it sent to its wars; but certainly not the only case.

From Editor & Publisher in the USA:

Military Told Media and Family That It Was ‘Friendly Fire’ — But It Was Murder

By Greg Mitchell

Published: June 20, 2008 10:25 PM ET updated Friday

NEW YORK For five years now, E&P has been chronicling the disturbing number of “noncombat” deaths in Iraq, often suicides, which usually come to light only due to the diligence of local newspapers. As part of that effort, last August I briefly described yet another case, involving a 20-year-old Texas woman named Kamisha Block, who apparently was much loved in her Vidor hometown. It was said to be death by “friendly fire,” which officially is fairly rare in Iraq, so I kept an eye on it for days, in case of an update.

Many more nonhostile deaths arrived, and so I forgot about Kamisha. Today, a reader sent me a link to a report on Vidor, Texas, TV station, which in turn led me to a news article in yesterday’s Beaumont Enterprise.

Forget friendly fire. It turns out that Spc. Block was actually murdered, and the killer, another soldier, Staff Sgt. Brandon Norris, then turned the gun on himself.

And more: Her parents were misled at the start, and only after the mother noticed a suspicious head wound at the funeral (it turns out she was shot five times) and asked why, were they informed a few days later about the murder angle.

In fact, the Enterprise, too, was lied to by the Pentagon. Last August 21, the paper reported: “The U.S. Defense Department has confirmed two fatalities on Aug. 12 by friendly fire, but has not officially released names or the cause of death.”

That same article quoted her aunt, Kathy Byerly: “She was shot in the chest by friendly fire. They haven’t told us anything else - the rest is under investigation. We just want to know the truth about it.” Norris, too, was listed simply as a “noncombat” death.

The Enterprise in an editorial today charges: “There is no excuse for the U.S. Army’s shabby treatment of Kamisha Block’s parents and others who cared for her. Her commanders knew right away that she had been killed by a fellow soldier in Iraq, who had been harassing her. It was a standard murder-suicide. Incredibly, the Army first told her parents that it was an accidental death due to friendly fire.”

Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner: here.