The Tillman Supremacy

The Tillman Supremacy

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The radical far-left Daily Kos website recently posted a brief story that US Army Ranger Pat Tillman of National Football League fame was killed in action under orders of President Bush and the Bush Administration specifically. The article that Marxist Daily Kos used to derive this theory was written by the far left CBS News, an energetic anti-Republican American media cell. The leftist media is always on the lookout for new anti-Bush material to publish, so once Pat Tillman’s mom made statements claiming that her son was murdered under the direct orders of the Executive Branch, the giddy media was stumbling over itself to report the story in a media frenzy.

The circumstances surrounding Pat Tillman’s death are clear and were explained adequately by US Army leadership tasked to investigate Tillman’s tragic death. Tillman’s Ranger Platoon was operating in Afghanistan and there was a friendly fire incident which led to Pat Tillman’s death on the battlefield. In any war, military science has proven that an estimated 5% to 8% of all casualties in war can occur from friendly fire incidents. Friendly fire incidents are not a “crime”. A combat zone is the most dangerous and lethal environment for human beings. Knowing this, it is important to peer into what can happen with incidents like Tillman’s to better understand why the US Army investigative team decided to call Tillman’s death as that caused by enemy fire instead of friendly fire.

Pat Tillman’s death was explained as occurring due to enemy fire, but we now know this is not what happened, and friendly fire was the cause. Why did the US Army command decide to post the cause of Tillman’s death as that occurring by enemy fire, and not friendly fire? In war, there are times when the American public is not entitled to the truth because the national security of the country is more important than the potential enemy propaganda value associated with certain aspects of the truth. That may sound unethical, but it is practiced all the time in other components of a democracy. Pat Tillman was a popular individual, a former member of the National Football League, and subsequently a US Army Ranger.

US Army Rangers are the cutting edge of the American fighting force. Special Operations forces such as Green Berets and SFOR-D are part of that cutting edge, but US Army Rangers are the trigger pullers when it comes to US National defense. US Army Rangers are men that have been resocialized away from liberal (Marxist) cultural definitions of masculinity and Rangers are at the spearhead of America’s national defense. The existence of the US Army Rangers creates a great fear in potential enemies of the United States, because US Army Rangers are America’s hunters in war. That is what US Army Rangers do. They get together in groups and hunt the enemy relentlessly on the battlefield and they are the finest soldiers ever created by the American military institution. US Army Rangers have a creed, a code of ethics, that no other soldiers in the US Army have, because Rangers are required to better, to be faster, to engage the enemy with all of their might on the battlefield. This is the US Army Ranger creed:

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit-de-corps of the Rangers.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.

Pat Tillman was no longer an NFL Football player. Tillman was a US Army Ranger. Pat Tillman made his choice, and his choice was hunting America’s terrorist enemies on the battlefields of the transnational war against terrorism. Tillman was a hunter defending the American people.

The question that has bubbled to the surface in the Tillman case was an ethical one. Was it really necessary to change Tillman’s cause of death from KIA while engaging the enemy to that of friendly fire? Pat Tillman was loved by millions of Americans and he was certainly loved and respected by the US Army for his decision to become a US Army Ranger. In times of war, there is a higher politic that exists to shore up the morale of the country, while at the same time promoting the sacrifices made by so small a percentage of our young men and women today that wear the uniform. The leftist American media claims that it was unethical not to publicly announce Tillman’s death as that caused by friendly fire in Afghanistan. The leftist media was looking for any situation to attack the Bush Administration, so when it caught wind that Tillman’s death was not accurately defined, other circumstances surrounding America’s national security role were ignored.

That’s the question, in a nutshell. Personally, my opinion is that Tillman’s death should have been categorized as that due to hostile enemy fire because he was in Afghanistan, and his reputation and sacrifices deserved more than the friendly fire recognition. Is that ethical? Yes, it is, because in times of war the morale of the country is just as important as success on the battlefield. Declaring Pat Tillman’s death a friendly fire incident simply plays into the hands of our enemies and gives the impression that his death was an instrument for other fallacious means. For example, there are rumors about Tillman’s death that claim that the Bush Administration ordered it because the administration’s poll numbers were low, while other conspiracy theorists claim that Tillman was “anti-war” and met an untimely death for his anti-war opinions.

Those theories that the leftist media are propping up now to attack the Bush Administration are morally deficient.

Like a play by play in a National Football League game, folks wanted a replay of the Tillman incident in Afghanistan because a mistake was made. During an NFL game, when mistakes are made there is instant replay and yardage penalties to punish the team committing the offense. The leftist media wanted an instant replay of the Tillman friendly fire incident, and media pressure has now caused General Officers critical to US national defense forced into early retirement and demoted with resignations in hand. Does that help our troops in the War on Terrorism?

It is almost laughable that the Marxist Daily Kos can quote a leftist CBS article and claim that they care about “what really happened” to Tillman, when it is clear that Tillman’s case is nothing more to the same far left media than a vector to attack the Bush Administration. If the leftist media were really concerned about reporting a balanced story about the ethical considerations involved in the Tillman case as it was handled by the US Army, it would have covered all of the ethical questions of the parties involved, not just the definition of Tillman’s death. There was no mention by leftist CBS and Marxist Daily Kos about how the National Football League builds massive stadiums on prime land for its professional football games and pays little to no property taxes for that land to the cities where such stadiums exist. There was also no discussion of the ethical issue where communities that host these professional teams are in many cases required to purchase all unsold tickets to games every year using tax-payer money. Is that ethical? Is the NFL ethical in its handling of former NFL players that have become crippled and impoverished? You don’t see those crippled and wheelchair bound former players on game day on Sundays. That would hurt the NFL’s image.

But incredibly, the US Army’s image doesn’t matter to the same people that have no problem with starving inner-city folks being forced to buy unsold professional sports tickets with their tax dollars instead of food and shelter, or letting billionaires build stadiums tax-free on the best land in town and never pay taxes on that land or the facilities ever again.

I think the real truth to this entire story is that Pat Tillman died a better man, a US Army Ranger, and not a lesser man, a National Football League player.

Christopher Farmer

MS, National Security

Pat Tillman was a US Army Ranger, not an NFL player.

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