Denogean: Kevin Tillman has challenge for all voters
by Anne T. Denogean on Oct. 27, 2006, under Local
Army Rangers Pat Tillman (left) and his brother Kevin in Saudi Arabia prior to serving in Iraq in 2003.
Kevin Tillman, brother of former Arizona Cardinal-turned-soldier Pat Tillman, is having his say two years after his brother’s controversial death in Afghanistan.
His words are bitter.
Somehow, America has become all that it condemns, he writes in an essay on the Internet.
“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,” he wrote.
It’s a harsh missive from a man who, along with his famous brother, walked into combat with open eyes as a U.S. Army Ranger and who clearly feels betrayed by his government and those who head it.
When Pat Tillman gave up a lucrative NFL contract and instead went to fight terrorists in Afghanistan in 2002, it was a Bush administration dream come true.
Tillman was handsome, patriotic and self-sacrificing, an all-American, iron-jawed symbol for all that was noble about the war on terrorism before he spent a day in boot camp.
When he was killed in error by his fellow soldiers on April 22, 2004, the government initially covered up the circumstances of his death to further exploit his heroic image. That turned Tillman’s death into a symbol of the incompetence and deceit with which this war has been prosecuted.
Kevin Tillman had been publically silent since his brother’s death. But his Oct. 19 essay on an obscure Web site is reaching thousands of Americans and, for many, echoing their sense of betrayal. Countless more are hearing of his words through media coverage.
“Somehow,” he wrote, “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.”
In the weekend after it was posted, the article drew 1,816 posted comments on the Web site. According to media reports, thousands more couldn’t be posted because of the site’s limited server capacity.
The vast majority were supportive of Tillman. A few lambasted him.
“Kevin, you and Cindy (Sheehan) should get together with those 9-11 widows who have capitalized on their loved ones deaths. Are you going to run for Democratic office, since you support your cut & run brothers so?,” wrote one poster.
Disagree with Kevin Tillman if you will, but it’s impossible to dismiss him as “a political pawn of the far left” in light of his honorable service to the country and the loss of his brother.
The White House announced this week that President Bush has abandoned the phrase “stay the course” in describing his plan for victory in the Middle East.
Americans would find that more heartening if he had described a new course that differs from the current course, one that has led to chaos in Iraq and seemingly has no end but a dead end that leaves America cornered and vulnerable.
It is Bush’s little war. But, that said, the president’s many critics and political opponents have also shirked their duties.
It’s not enough for Democratic leadership to criticize the president for the mess he’s made and smirk as he squirms.
They’ve got to help clean it up.
The days are few before the Nov. 7 election. Tillman ended his essay with an impassioned call for Americans to vote.
And vote we should, for candidates who can rise to the challenges of finishing this war in Iraq and keeping America safe.
At every debate, at every forum, at every meet-and-greet opportunity with a candidate for national office from now to Election Day, we should demand a plan for Iraq.
And once we’ve elected them, let’s continue to make it clear that our leaders must lead.
We owe that and more to Pat Tillman and the other 2,803 American men and women who have given their lives in this fight.
We owe it to Kevin Tillman and the 168,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her column runs Tuesdays and Fridays.
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Related story:
Pat Tillman’s brother blasts Iraq war
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