The Pat Tillman Story

Just when I think that I don't have ANOTHER reason to hate the Bush Administration I find myself watching the documentary, 'The Pat Tillman Story'. The words evil, immoral bastards crossed my lips more than a few times. What this family had to do to find out the truth about the death of their son was both tragic and heroic. They say the first casualty of war is the truth and in this case that is just the way events played out.


Pat Tillman was a NFL football player who gave up his career and the money and fame that went with it to enlist in the army with his younger brother. Both were army Rangers. In April 2004, Tillman was killed in action while serving in a remote section of Afghanistan. Since he was such a high profile soldier in Bush's war in Iraq, Tillman's death became a symbol and was milked by both the US Military and the press for all the propaganda value that it had.

Tillman was a patriot. He was a great American hero who was killed trying to protect his men from an enemy ambush. He was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery is giving up his life to save others. This should have been the end of this story but it wasn't.


Only later, after the family pieced together the truth from mountains of redacted documents did they discover that there had been a massive cover-up. That their son, Pat had been killed by FRIENDLY FIRE and that fact had been covered up by the American government with the full knowledge and co-operation of the US Military.

Instead of quietly informing the public of this, they turned this young man's death into a validation for the war. That Tillman's sacrifice was in a greater cause and that this 'hero' was someone to be emulated. It was an evil act of cowardly men.

Sure this plays into everything I believe about the motivations for the invasion of Iraq and the blood that falls directly on the hand of people like President Bush, Vice President Chaney and all their ilk who participated in not only the LIE that not only got the US into this seemingly endless war in the first place, but which still keeps the war going to this day. It's the longest war in American History. In a world where the American economy seems days away from collapse, the wasteful military spending and the loss of the best of this generation's young man and women is a criminal waste.


I feel so mad and helpless not only for the Tillman family but for everyone who will carry the scars of these wars with them for the rest of their lives. Both they and their friends and families will be forever changed - and for what? So a few rich men can become richer. So oil companies can continue to make obscene profits? So Middle Eastern princes can brutally suppress their people and fund terrorist groups around the world? So green technologies can be kept out of development at the cost of environmental destruction? I guess so.

Sometimes I wish I was an idiot who didn't know what I know. Instead of feeling informed after seeing this documentary I am left angry and sad and without hope.