New details on Tillman's death

There has been speculation that Pat Tillman was murdered -- either because of his high-profile and his dissatisfaction with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and Iraq, or because his fellow soldiers disliked him enough to commit fratricide. The Pentagon hasn't done much to put down those rumors, and in fact its stonewalling and coverup have only fed suspicions.

For those not entirely familiar with the saga, wikipedia has a balanced summary.

Recall, too, that Tillman had scheduled a meeting with Noam Chomsky after he was to return from Afghanistan, and that he was urging soldiers in his platoon to vote for John Kerry. Hmmm. Not quite the team player the Bush cultists hoped for, eh?

This latest story adds more fuel to the fire:

The documents show that a doctor who autopsied Tillman's body was suspicious of the three gunshot wounds to the forehead. The doctor said he took the unusual step of calling the Army's Human Resources Command and was rebuffed. He then asked an official at the Army's Criminal Investigation Division if the CID would consider opening a criminal case.

"He said he talked to his higher headquarters and they had said no," the doctor testified.

Also according to the documents, investigators pressed officers and soldiers on a question Mrs. Tillman has been asking all along.

"Have you, at any time since this incident occurred back on April 22, 2004, have you ever received any information even rumor that Cpl. Tillman was killed by anybody within his own unit intentionally?" an investigator asked then-Capt. Richard Scott.

Scott, and others who were asked, said they were certain the shooting was accidental.

Put yourself in the shoes of the hawks in the Pentagon. What would you do if one of your poster-boys for the war turned against the mission, became openly and vocally critical of the war and its architects, and started arranging for a meeting with one of the most visible and respected critics of the war and American imperialism?

Would setting up a "friendly fire" incident really be unthinkable?