Editorial: Placing the blame

Friday, Aug. 3, 2007 | 7:29 a.m.

T he way the Pentagon continues to handle the scandal over the Army's handling of the death of Cpl. Pat Tillman is shameful.

This week the military announced it was reprimanding senior Army officers, including a retired three-star general, for essentially covering up the fact that Tillman's death in April 2004 was caused by friendly fire. Initially the Army said the former NFL star turned Army Ranger was killed by insurgents in a battle in Afghanistan and posthumously awarded Tillman the Silver Star.

The Pentagon knew soon after Tillman's death that there was a strong possibility he was killed by friendly fire, yet for five weeks said nothing to the family or the public to contradict the cover story.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers and other top Pentagon brass disavowed knowledge of any cover-up before a congressional panel Wednesday and tried to duck responsibility.

Rumsfeld said he knew of "no evidence that there has been a cover-up," which is hardly a strong defense.

Retired Gen. John Abizaid, who was overseeing the war at the time, said, "It's very difficult to come to grips with how we screwed this thing up, but we screwed this thing up."

That is an understatement. It was also the closest anyone from the Pentagon got to taking the blame. For that, the Pentagon has turned to retired Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, the former commander of special operations. Blaming him for a "failure of leadership" in this mess, Pentagon brass are considering reducing his rank, which would cut his retirement pay. He appears to be a high-ranking fall guy and not the real culprit.

Under Rumsfeld, Pentagon cover-ups seemed to be the rule. Consider the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, conditions at Guantanamo Bay and the Jessica Lynch story. By failing to quickly divulge the truth in each case, Rumsfeld and his aides sent a clear message to the military: Cover up the bad news.

No matter how he parses his words and tries to escape responsibility, Rumsfeld is clearly responsible for the military's actions in this case. His troops were merely following his example.