anyone seen After Pat's Birthday by Kevin Tillman?

[triniman]

This article by Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman, the former NFL star-turned Army soldier.  Both brothers fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Pat Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004.

You can easily find the article by googling "After Pat's Birthday."  It's likely to rile a lot of people up, so I won't post it here.  But I would be interested in reading comments about it.

 

[vonGarvin]

Do you have a link?

 

[sigpig]

Don't be afraid to post things that might be controversial. Yes, there are many right wing Bush apologist types on this site, but not everyone is  one   It's a good article and worthy of displaying.

From truthdig - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/

"It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after.  It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military.  He spoke about the risks with signing the papers.  How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people.  How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition.  How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out. 

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is.  Something like that.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them.  Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet.  It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes. 

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground. 

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated. 

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense. 

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people.  So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity.  Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites. 

Luckily this country is still a democracy.  People still have a voice.  People still can take action.  It can start after Pat’s birthday. 

Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,
Kevin Tillman"

 

[triniman]

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/

The comments about this article by Kevin Tillman on the above website, range from great praise to outright vilification.

 

[cplcaldwell]

Thanks triniman for the link to the page with comments.

First, from reading those comments, I have to say that I fear for our education system. If the general consensus was that, right or wrong, this was an eloquent article then I must say our collective ability to read prose critically is well and truly 'eighty-sixed'. IMHO this paper rates no more than a C-, and then only if offered in a Grade 7 class. What exactly was Mr Tillman trying to say?

Second and this irks me, we should remember that Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan. His younger brother immediately equates all the mistakes made in Iraq to his brother's death. No doubt this article with it's tortured logic will very soon end up on the ACT! Counter Recruitment site. I don't want to be a 'fascist' Canadian but I am satisfied that successive Canadian governments have stayed away from Iraq whilst committing steadfastly to Afghanistan. My reasons are clear, Saddam posed no threat to Canada, the International Law of getting involved in Iraq was tenuous, Afghanistan was clearly mandated from the UN and EU and NATO and finally, Afghanistan, while difficult is/was/hopefully will remain winnable.

I mean no disrespect to our American, British and Australian friends and their involvement in Iraq, but as a friend I would raise, as I hope I am here, the respectful contrary.

Unfortunately this article is poorly conceived and poorly written and I doubt it will contribute to a sensible discussion amongst all. To debate our involvement in South Asia, must, I think, needs be, separate Iraq from Afstan.

Today, even in the US Congress, people are talking about pulling out of Iraq. Perhaps this makes sense, perhaps the Coalition has done all it can do and the rest is to the Iraqis. Yet even today, one of my 'favourite' think tanks, the Senlis Group, whilst noting that more civil aid is required in Afstan, readily admits a NATO/ISAF/US/UN pullout would be wrong.

Mr Tillman in his understandable grief has gone a long way with this essay at obfuscating the path ahead. Pity. I am sorry his brother is dead, losing a life so full of promise hurts real bad. I know.