“It seems overwhelmingly likely that Tillman was not a victim of fratricide or ‘friendly fire’ as it is euphemistically called, but was deliberately assassinated.”
by Charles E. Carlson
The Bush Administration knew at the top that celebrity soldier Pat Tillman had been killed by persons in, or attached to his own unit, yet it purposely chose to muffle the incident for more than two years- lying to the family while lionizing the victim as a war hero. Circumstantial evidence, primarily illogical actions at very high levels of the administration, suggests more than a cover up of a “friendly fire” accident (a common mistake during war.)
Had Tillman been accidentally shot by one of his own unit the whole matter could have been put to rest by holding a few harsh court marshals of those immediately involved, and issuing profuse apologies to everyone. But, America’s most famous volunteer soldier was, according to his brother and constant companion, on the verge of whistle-blowing the bankruptcy of US policy in Iraq. The untimely death of Tillman could not have been timelier for the top civilians in charge of making war, but covering for an assassination is not so simple.
The Tillman brothers were both professional athletes who enlisted in the US Army together in May 2002, 8 months after day 9/11, but before the bombing of Iraq. They were first shipped to Iraq where they lived together in the same unit; then they were transferred to Afghanistan where Pat Tillman was killed about two years after his enlistment by parties unknown. The Army now admits Tillman was killed by his own unit, but there appears to be much more to the story. Tillman’s own brother Kevin, who was with him every day, says Pat despised and rejected the war in Iraq as unnecessary and brutal. Kevin wrote a public letter on 20 October 2006:
“Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.” (1)The Not So New Military Art of Selective Execution…of its Own
Pat Tillman’s family has firmly rejected the Defense Department’s findings on the former NFL star’s friendly-fire death in Afghanistan- calling for congressional investigations into what they see as broad malfeasance and a cover-up. They are told in the reports that nine Army officers, including four generals, “made errors” in not reporting the friendly fire death to their superiors and to the Tillman family. The Defense Department has stated one or more of those officers who provided misleading information as the military investigated could be charged with a crime. However, there is a gaping hole in this story. It has now been disclosed that the “friendly fire” story of his death had to be known at the top of the chain of command, probably by Bush and acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee. (2)
Pat Tillman’s father, a lawyer, while avoiding the legal term “murder” is having none of this explanation. (3)
Logic dictates that we raise the possibility of Tillman’s assassination by his own government. Top civilian leadership had the reason and the opportunity to assassinate Tillman, and now they are acting quite guilty.
The Tillman story has a great chance of breaking out: survivor Kevin Tillman was with his brother constantly at war. Pat and Kevin were shipped from Iraq to Afghanistan because Pat made no secret of his opinion that war in Iraq was “illegal and unjust,” and he was, according to his brother, prepared to tell his story publicly at the first opportunity. The Tillman brothers were due for a furlough, and Kevin stated in interviews that Pat had arranged to meet with an anti-war journalist while at home. We wonder if others might have known this.
We do not know if Pat ever admitted he had been fooled into enlisting, but he privately denounced the destruction of war in Iraq as immoral and brutal. As Pat’s outrage grew, he was probably reassigned before he could refuse to serve in Iraq. It does not appear he renounced his original ideas about fighting the war on terrorism, presumably against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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