From war hero to atheist pariah.
Pat Tillman was a pro football player who gave up his career to enlist in the Army after 9/11. He went to Afghanistan and was killed in combat, his death an icon for the patriotic fervor that served the neocon debacle perfectly. But Pat Tillman turned out to be an embarrassing disappointment for the flag wavers. For one thing, we now know that after he got there he came to the conclusion the war was "fucking illegal." Then we found out he had been killed by American bullets.
Not that we'd know any of this from Pentagon sources. It's his family that has pushed for the truth, and pushed hard. In the face of Pentagon resistance, prevarications and cover-ups, his family is slowly getting at what happened. So now they are in the crosshairs:
More than any other single person below the rank of general, [Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich] is probably most responsible for the Pentagon's embarrassment when NFL-player-turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004, by his own comrades. Kauzlarich has been energetically avoiding responsibility for the fratricidal incident ever since. [...]"But there [have] been numerous unfortunate cases of fratricide," Kauzlarich told ESPN, "and the parents have basically said, 'OK, it was an unfortunate accident.' And they let it go. So this is--I don't know, these people have a hard time letting it go. It may be because of their religious beliefs." [...]
"When you die," the Reverend Kauzlarich explained to ESPN's Fish, "I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt."
[snip]
"So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more," continued Kauzlarich, "that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks.... You know what? I don't think anything will make them happy, quite honestly. I don't know. Maybe they want to see somebody's head on a platter. But will that really make them happy? No, because they can't bring their son back." (via Austin Cline)
I don't know what the Tillman family's religious beliefs are. Supposedly they don't belong to a church. That obviously doesn't make them atheists, although they might very well be. That's none of my business. What is my business as a citizen, however, is the blatant attempt by the US military to smear them by implying that if they were religious, they'd be satisfied for justice to be dealt with later. None of this messy stuff now, interfering with the pious Colonel's career.
Mistakes happen in war and soldiers die as a result. That's a given. We expect some accountability for those mistakes, however. I'm an atheist, so I don't expect Lt. Colonel Kauzlarich to be judged posthumously. Apparently neither does he. In his heart of hearts, he's a hypocrite and doesn't believe in a Final Judgment any more than I do. It's just a convenient way to weasel out of accountability in the here and now. And he's a bigot.
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He may not be a hypocrite (may) - one reason for the popularity of religion is precisely this: bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people but we can all be satisfied if if evens out in the end, even if we're all dead when it does. It's a comforting philosophy for those who need comfort and it's also a useful ones for those in charge who want to quash dissent. Like this guy.
Three comments:
1. I thought that there were no atheists in foxholes.
2. Lt. Colonel Kauzlarich is already worm dirt, and he's not even dead yet.
3. If Tillman died for nothing, that means the war is pointless. Is Kauzarlich admitting that the war is pointless?
If Tillman died for nothing, that means the war is pointless. Is Kauzarlich admitting that the war is pointless?
Faulty logic (at best). If he "died for nothing" it was because his death contributed nothing to the war, not that the war itself is pointless.
So by the Lt. Colonel's philosphy, it would be perfectly okay for grown children to kill a parent in order to speed up their inheritance because parent will supposedly have a better life dead than alive. As a matter of fact, one could justify any murder that way: Hey, I'm doing you a favor, I'm sending you to a better life. But I'll just keep your wallet (or your wife, or your car or your country) But no, wait: If I kill you and you are not the same faith as me, I send you not to a "better life" but to everlasting hell. So in the Lt. Col's philosophy, in his secret little heart of hearts, that is actually where he believes Tillman went as a result of this "unfortunate fraticide". (How do you have an "unfortunate" premeditated murder, by the way?). So one's choices of belief systems are: one, be an atheist and believe that when you die you get sent into nothing, just worm food. Or two, be of any given Judeo-Christian root religion (including Islam) and when you die be assured of everlasting hell in the other guys religion if you are unlucky enough to have picked the wrong faith. (odds are you have.) Well, luckily there are still some other spiritual belief systems out there that aren't so brutal. I think I'll stick with them.
This disgusting "Reverend" seems to be engaging in "blame the victim" reasoning, blaming Tillman who was killed for not having approved belief system, blaming the parents for not just accepting like the other people he references. Pretty disgusting. I concur with the commenter above who says Rev. Col. K. is "already worm dirt".
What worries me is that this officer, who, to be polite, does not appear to have a great grasp of nuance is involved in fourth generation warfare. At least he's not as crazy as Boyden was.
Fourth Gen warfare info can be found <"http://www.d-n-i.net/="here"
I used to think there might be just wars, and maybe there still are some, but mostly I've come to the conclusion that wars are just what happens when the rich and powerful manipulate the passions of the populace and convince us to "die for our country." Sure there are times when the strong need to defend the weak, but I think those times are fewer than TPTB want us to believe. Its almost always the poor and less educated who get killed and the rich and priviledged who benefit. One of the allures of the Tilman story is that Pat did not fit the typical profile for the background of a soldier. I respect that he went into the military for all the right reasons, and I am sad that he died for all the wrong ones. War is good for absolutely nothing.
Is this post anti-religious or anti-military? NOT THE SAME THING! I distrust military and don't believe in the notion of just war purely out of the thick christian dogma I was fed as a child/adolescent.
Pat Tillman should not be remembered for his patriotism or athleticism, but rather for his fierce loyalty for something OTHER than the almighty dollar.
The enemy is wealth, not religion.
AMEN Sue. War is caused by religions and overinflated egos.
Trauma/Ann I would submit its not about egos although they sure start some. Nor is it religion, but it sure started some and some continue. Land issues start some, economics too. No guy in a war thinks that war is cool. We have these little ones so we dont have the much bigger ones. My toy is bigger than yours mentalities and I will club you over the head with it if you dont do WHAT I SAY! There is no Age of Reason here. We are under attack and whether the Tillman family gets any sort of justice from a friendly fire accident because a knucklehead called in the wrong coordinates is unknown. Those guys were all wearing squad radios and one of them surely knows that they killed Tillman. I dont think that I would try to make the reach that Revere is here that the war is illegal and that Tillman thought so.
What if he had died storming a position or in a frontal assault, or saving an Afghan kid? Its conjecture because he didnt. Revere puts a conclusion in his mouth and mind of Tillman and that is that he thought the war was illegal. Great to be thinking for someone afterwards. Is there written proof, videos? Nothing that I have seen, but hey if I am wrong please someone show me. But dont Sheehan it. Casy Sheehan died after volunteering twice for combat. If he thought it was illegal or wrong then I cant see it.
Tillman was an adult when he died, just as he was when he signed up. He was in the middle of a firefight which because of the distance no one could confirm his position. Whomever shot him put 3 bullets into his head and there was one in his leg with some shrapnel of some kind from something else in a shoulder. The first shot killed him according to Dr. Baden formerly of the New York Coroners Office.
They are talking about ballistics and re-creation of the shooting. What for? If it were someone other than Pat Tillman this wouldnt have gotten the time of day in the media. The same media that was being led around Iraqi nuclear facilities and weapons plants... Nyah, these guys werent a threat. As for the shooting. These were not the .50's that were first reported but more like 7.62mm or 5.56. The latter is the M-16 round, the other is an M-60 machine gun round. It was clearly fratricide as Dr. Baden suggested but no murder was committed, nor was it intentional and they could probably figure out who the shooter was too. But no charges will likely ever be filed. The most I have ever seen is a Letter of Reprimand under the UCMJ for something like this. Its called a war. I almost got one of my own people when he strayed out of the area and returned unnannounced. I missed him, hit the tree next to him and blasted splinters into his neck and face. He apologized for violating procedures.
Revere even though you and I disagree I have yet to see anyone post anything that conclusively makes the war illegal because it was formally approved by the President and US Congress. Faulty information? Yes, some. Heads have rolled as a result. But quite a bit of it was right. Al Qaeda was being supported by the Taliban and Al Qaeda were the ones that attacked us. The more I hear and see about what they had planned, the more I am glad that the lightning rod has been moved half a world away. For one I would rather have them there knocking the scum balls off and burning opium crops, than recruiting young guys who think right or wrongly that they are doing Allahs work to kill us gringos. Gringos here means Americans. Then there is the fact that we armed them, the Russians armed them, the Chinese armed them, the UK armed them. WE the socialists, communists and every other 'ist out there gave them weapons and they went right to being humans. Get it over on the other guys using a weapon. Over there its religion and weapons.
Religion is poop in the face of a war. It means nothing because it means you have to throw away that thick religion we were taught in Sunday school, synagogues, and mosques to kill your fellow man. We start to raise our hands against others. Nothing new. Been doing it since we invested in the first model 50220 BC club. If you take it to task, this war began when Osama who was our guy against the Russians went maverick. Then we committed the biggest blunder, like Castro we tried to kill him and missed. We also looked the other way when the EU was selling Iraq and Iran, and every other Middle East country guns and ammo. Hey its good for the economy -both Democrat and Republican. When things started to get out of hand we called the French on it who were selling the most stuff and deliberately mislabeling it to the Iraqi's. That stuff was chem/bio and nuclear. They all could give a big rats ass about we the peon's think. Its about someone getting it over on the other guy. The single point that the Army is trying to get across to the Tillmans is that even though he had a big name, his name is no bigger than anyone elses when you are killed or wounded in the military. He will become a footnote to history. If he had wanted out they likely would have let him go. They dont like high profilers for just this reason. I dont think anyone gets that. Again, someone please define acceptable losses. Sheehan, Tillman, I wonder which will be remembered in 20 years. None except those they left behind.
War in the mideast is all about religion.......whose religion is the true one. I agree that the Tillman name has more power to ask questions, but the arrogance of the Lt. Collonel in response to the quest for information is down right sickening. If he represents the leadership (which he does)no wonder people hate other people and their religion. If he is an example of a Christian, then God (?) help our country.