Pat Tillman fragged?

Dear Reader,

Originally I planned to proceed with part 2 of my 3-part series (2. prosperity, 3. health and how a peace time economy helps these things flourish, a war economy does not), but I believe the breaking story about former football star and now war hero (as a US Air Force veteran, I believe all our soldiers killed in battle are heroes because they have put themselves in harm's way on our behalf) Pat Tillman.

It has long been suspected by his family that Tillman, for whatever reason, was fragged while on duty in Afghanistan, and that the US government, particularly the White House, wanted to cover the facts of his death because he had been used as a propaganda tool by President Bush, who insisted - untruthfully - that Tillman was a patriot who supported his administration's policies.

Tillman, a true patriot indeed, did not support the US invasion of Iraq and was outspoken in his political and personal viewpoints.

"Fragged" is the American military term for US soldiers killing one of their own, usually an officer, for a number of reasons, but the top of the list is just that the person is "unpopular."

This term (not the practice) started in the Vietnam war, and the usual means of killing the person is a hand grenade (fragmenting the person and the weapon so it would not leave any clues or evidence about who committed the murder as bullets do).

At first the military reported that Tillman was shot by the enemy. Later they confessed that Tillman had been killed accidentally by "friendly fire."

But the evidence does not indicate an accidental shooting.

Tillman was shot in the head three times, the bullets all close together and from American military rifle(s). The military admitted there was no enemy fire in the area. IMO, the bullets should provide the evidence needed with ballistic tests. The investigation should also include the location of the bullet casings to determine where the shooter was; it's estimated Tillman was shot at close range, accidental or not.

You can read Martha Mendoza's Associated Press report about the investigation for the here.

In it, she writes Tillman's last words were to a frightened comrade: "Stop sniveling."

[NOTE: A comrade of Tillman's says this "quote" is not true; that Tillman would not speak to a suffering soldier this way; that it is a continuing post-mortem character assassination made by the Bush administration's refusal to release all the investigation information surrounding Tillman's death.]

Tillman's mother has said many times she wants to find the truth about her son's death, and if he was murdered, as she has long suspected, justice for those who killed him - particularly if he was "fragged."