ABC Nightline Wed. -- Tiger Force --murder in VietNam

 
Nightline Daily E-Mail
November 12, 2003


TONIGHT'S FOCUS: It was a special military unit, designed to take the fight to an elusive enemy. And then things went terribly wrong. There was an investigation, charges that hundreds of civilians were killed. And then the investigation was stopped. The story of the Tiger Force.

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Vietnam was a different war. We've gotten used to our wars being much shorter now. It's hard to imagine another war that could last for years. And it's easy, maybe too easy, to try to start making comparisons with Iraq. Is Iraq a quagmire? It may or may not be. But that's not the issue we're going to address tonight, although it certainly looms there in the background. But we're going to look tonight at war, and what it makes, or allows, people to do.

For those who weren't alive back then, it's hard to describe the frustration of the war in Vietnam. Conventional American forces were trying to find, and fight, an enemy that played by very different rules. And so new, unconventional methods were tried. One of those efforts was the Tiger Force, a special military unit that would take the fight to the Viet Cong. But things went wrong. It now appears that over a period of almost a year, that unit was responsible for murdering many many civilians. Not accidental killings, but murders. Now you can say that war is all about murder, but it appears that these killings were different. Innocent people simply shot down.

There was an investigation. A major investigation, but in the end, it went nowhere. No one was ever prosecuted for his actions. The investigation just died. Tonight, you'll hear from a number of the soldiers who were involved, and they are unapologetic. ABC News investigative correspondent Brian Ross will report on this story tonight, which was started by the newspaper, The Toledo Blade, to give credit where credit is due. Ted will anchor tonight. It's a difficult story to hear, but one that we can't ignore. After all, war does do things to people, and they are, after all, waging war in all of our names.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
ABCNEWS Washington bureau

TYY :thumbsup:

Every pro-war sonofabitch in the USA oughtta be forced to listen to that broadcast.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/vietnam_tiger_force_031112.html

The Army sent regular reports on the investigation to the Nixon White House between 1971 and 1973, Sallah and Weiss reported. The final decision to keep the case quiet and not prosecute was made in November 1975, when Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, was urging the country to heal from the wounds of Vietnam. It was also the month James Schlesinger resigned as secretary of defense and was replaced by Donald Rumsfeld, who was the youngest secretary of defense in U.S. history.

"The last thing the Ford administration wanted at that point was a Vietnam war crimes trial, something the size of My Lai, because once you court-martial one of these guys … then everything's out of the bag," said Weiss.

Neither Rumsfeld nor Schlesinger would comment on why none of the Tiger Force soldiers were ever prosecuted. A spokesman for Ford said the former president had no comment on the Tiger Force investigation.

A few minutes of this story was on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

Part of the report was about Rumsfeld's role in the cover up. They talked with Rumsfeld's office who said he knew nothing of the report or the cover-up. They mentioned his position in the Ford Administration but I did not hear what it was. But he was definitely part of the story.

Almost all of the people don't want to drag anything from Vietnam back up again. I am not saying that it is just, but that is the way it is. Nam was over 30 years ago, and just about everybody except a few diehards want it to stay over. There simply will not be any public outcry for another My Lai.

Toooooo many parallels with Iraq. It's that simple.

Besides, some of us who lived thru that era are still alive, and as each day passes, the memories of the Vietnam era grow stronger.

Eloriel

The story will quickly die away when the general public refuses pay much attention to it.

but it doesn't mean it isn't important.

I agree this isn't going to bring anyone down, tho there's that Rummy connection, but this is more a matter for historians, and then there's the lessons for Iraq, like they talked about on this program.

Do you think the RWs will push it? Hell, some of them would like to go back to '65 & invade North Vietnam.

Do you think the center will push the story. They want to forget Nam.

Do you think the moderate left of center will push the story? They are trying to defeat Bush and don't want to be bothered with something that will open up old wounds, and possibly alienate some center voters.

That only leaves the radical left. They are the only ones interested in pushing the story. If no one pushes the story, it dies. Since the media will be paying attention to the rest of the country, then the story will have no legs, except in the radical left press.

When I predict something, it may or may not mean that it is what I want to happen. It means that it what I think will happen.

George Santayana, "The Age of Reason" volume 1, 1905

War hardens hearts, the peace that follows wrings them.

Killed his own Vietnamese translator - says shooting someone in the back like that is his favorite way to kill someone.

"Is"...not "was".

an empty hole in his chest where his heart should be, he gave me the creeps. :scared: :puke:

motherfuckin pussies...killed old people who looked at them the wrong way.

he cut through that neocon guest's B.S. pretty good.

is quickly becoming my hero.

He can remain professional and polite, while turning the screw sharply.

He remarked on how he saw the similarities of Viet Nam and Iraq. As it happened in Viet Nam, the Iraqis that were pro-US at 1st, are quickly turning against the troops. (He should know about Nam - he was there.)

Col. Peter(?), a dickwad, disagreed w/him. This is the type of military person that makes me ill. He was all rah rah, kill, kill! We will WIN! :puke: He also denied there were many atrocities perpetrated by our guys in Nam.

General Johns, OTOH, said he knew of 100 documented atrocities in Nam. He said we are headed in the wrong direction in Iraq and over reacting. (Dropping huge bombs, killing mayors and civilians.) It's as a bee in the ear of a lion, he said of Iraq.

One colonel, one general - two wars, opposite opinions.

I tend to believe the general and Ted.

Thanks.