| "Friendly fire" -- that wonderful term -- has been a problem ever since the industrialization of war, sometime after the American Civil War. For obvious reasons, it's not a problem that is talked about a lot. To this, add what everyone who has done military service will know as "the military mind" and you've got plenty of material at which corrosive skeptics can sneer.
The question you have to ask yourself is: are we doing the right thing in Afghanistan? in Iraq? If we're not, if we're on the wrong side, then by all means trumpet every f***-up, every war crime [every war has them on both sides, starting with the American Revolution], every mistake, every inane or stupid statement by the ordinary and sometimes less-than-capable men and women who have chosen to serve our country. You'll have a chance to show how much more clever you are than they, while helping the wrong side [us] to lose, by demoralizing us, discouraging young people from enlisting, encouraging the enemy to think that if he just holds out, he can win (it worked in Vietnam).
But if, despite our errors, stupidities, and, yes, crimes, we are on the right side, then what you say and do, while not violating the fundamentals of moral behavior -- for which we are, after all, fighting -- must be subject to prudence and tactical considerations.
Pat Tillman was a hero regardless of how he died.
The people who seek to use his death to undermine his attempts to bring a decent society to Afghanistan are at best misguided, and at worst ... well, let's just say they are misguided. |