The American football hero may be gone but details of his mysterious death in Afghanistan just won't go away. Most recently, as reported by Time Magazine, "Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan."
This is as good a time as any to contemplate how and why Pat Tillman ended up in position to be killed by his fellow soldiers. Here's how the New York Times described Tillman at the time of his death: "A graduate of Arizona State University, Tillman, a safety, played for four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. But as an unrestricted free agent in 2002, he turned town a three-year, $3.6 million contract offer from the Cardinals and enlisted in the Army."
Accordingly, when Tillman was killed, the predictable platitudes followed:
Defensive tackle Corey Sears of the Houston Texans, who played with Tillman on the Cardinals from 1999 to 2000, said: "All the guys that complain about it being too hot or they don't have enough money, that's not real life. A real life thing is he died for what he believed in."
I wonder if Sears views Iraqis dying for what they believe in to be "a
real life thing" or is that reserved exclusively for Americans? If
Tillman were still alive, I'd like to ask him what exactly it was that
he "believed in" enough to die for. Was it, say, for-profit health care
for the few or pre-emptive wars or corporate welfare or maybe the death
penalty? How about strip malls, Reality TV, SUVs, or cell phones? Maybe
the right to vote for the next American Idol? I'd just like some
clarification.
Former Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis said Tillman who "represented
all that was good in sports...proudly walked away from a career in
football to a greater calling."
Definition of "greater calling": An ex-NFL player ruthlessly hunting
CIA-created Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in a misguided, myopic
attempt to avenge 9/11.
"Pat Tillman personified all the best values of his country and the NFL," declared commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
What values, Mr. Tagliabue? The values outlined in our history texts or
the values of militarism and greed this nation has lived by for over
200 years? (Did Tagliabue or Tillman ever read, say, Zinn's People's
History or Blum's Killing Hope?) Can someone do me a favor and list the
"best values" of both America and the NFL?
"Where do we get such men as these? Where to we find these people
willing to stand up for America?" asked Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Arizona.
Which America was Tillman standing up for-the bosses at Halliburton or
the homeless guy I see every day on the subway steps? Do you know
anyone who needed Tillman to "stand up" for them by bringing
indiscriminate death and destruction upon Iraq and Afghanistan? Are we
so numb to the clichés that we'll let them pass without comment or
contemplation?
More Rep. Hayworth: "He chose action rather than words. He just wanted to serve his country."
Again, what country was Tillman serving? The country personified by war
criminals like Bush, Clinton, etc.? The country defined by corporate
pirates? Indeed, Tillman wasn't serving the two million behind bars or
the two million locked in nursing homes against their will. The action
he chose over words didn't make our air or water cleaner or stop the
suburban sprawl. Tillman could have chosen to serve his country by
challenging the corporate-mandated status quo...but that's not how
things work around here, is it?
Even more from Hayworth: "He was a remarkable person. He lived the
American dream, and he fought to preserve the American dream and our
way of life."
What American dream? The dreams of Wal-Mart, Nike, and The Gap? Whose
way of life-Wall Street speculators, professional athletes, and
digitally- or surgically-enhanced celebrities? I certainly didn't ask
him to kill anyone and he sure wasn't protecting anything I hold dear.
Pat Tillman, to me, seemed like a pre-programmed American male...the
spawn of decades of corporate conditioning and State-sponsored
patriotism.
When Rich Tillman showed up at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
memorial for his big brother Pat, he "wore a rumpled white T-shirt, no
jacket, no tie, no collar," and "asked mourners to hold their spiritual
bromides." He later stated: "Pat isn't with God. He's fucking dead. He
wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's fucking
dead.''
Pat Tillman walking away from millions to "fight for his country" does
not impress me...but I am awed by the ability to manipulate humans into
consistently acting against their interests and the interests of the
entire planet.
"People often are conscripted into armies, but sometimes they enlist
with gusto," explains Steven Pinker, director of the Center of
Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Jingoism," Pinker declares, "is alarmingly easy to evoke."
"War itself is venal, dirty, confusing and perhaps the most potent
narcotic invented by humankind," says New York Times columnist Chris
Hedges. "It allows us to suspend individual conscience, maybe even
consciousness, for the cause. And few of us are immune... The contagion
of war, of the siren call of the nation, is so strong that most cannot
resist."
But resist we must...and unless we in America create new, powerful-and
urgent-ways to resist, we cannot expect the victims of our indifference
and ineptitude to not hold each of us accountable. As Ward Churchill
explains, it's not acceptable or realistic to believe that the
"brown-skinned folks dying in the millions in order to maintain this
way of life...can wait forever for those who purport to be the
opposition here to find some personally comfortable and pure manner of
affecting the kind of transformation that brings not just lethal but
genocidal processes to a halt."
As yourself this: Who gave up a life of luxury and turned his back on
millions to fight in the mountains and caves of Afghanistan for what he
believed in and, as a result, is revered by millions as a "hero"?
Depending on who you are and where you live, you might answer "Pat Tillman" or you might answer: "Osama bin Laden."
The world doesn't need any more "heroes" like Tillman or Osama. One of
the first things it needs is for the American people to snap out of
their propaganda-induced fog ASAP and seek a "greater calling" in the
truest sense.
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
does anyone else think the gov't had to exterminate tillman because he was planning on being "anti-war" once he was released from his committment to military???? been my thinking almost since i heard about him being killed. and now there's another fool football player who has volunteered???? who is this guy??? i'm not a fan - know nothing about football players? knew they weren't brilliant - but they appear to lack common sense.
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March 26, 2007
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The American football hero may be gone but details of his mysterious death in Afghanistan just won't go away. Most recently, as reported by Time Magazine, "Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan."
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