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Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life?

Gary Sudborough | 26.04.2004 01:17 | Anti-militarism | World

An argument against the US corporate media's depiction of American soldiers as "heroes" when they are engaged in an immoral and illegal war for fallacious reasons, especially when the war leaves a radioactive legacy of cancers and deformed children like the present wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There is no doubt about the bravery of Pat Tillman or his idealism in resigning from a lucrative career in the National Football League after 9-11 to, as he perceived the situation, protect America and fight the terrorists responsible for this spectacular, deadly attack on American soil. However, soldiers all through history have exhibited great courage in combat, although often fighting for mistaken, spurious reasons or even against their own best interests. I know there were many German soldiers in World War 2 who were fervent believers in fascism and willingly sacrificed themselves for an ideology which cost tens of millions of lives, lead to the death camps and devastated the continent of Europe. The same could be said of Japan's kamikaze pilots. Their sacrifice was exceedingly brave, but was their emperor really that close to God. The German and Japanese media certainly attempted to make heroes of these men. There were many true believers among the Protestants and Catholics who fought one another in the bloody Thirty Years War and exterminated about sixty percent of the population of northern Europe. Naturally, the kings and nobles had their own economic and political interests in these religious wars. Are all these people heroes simply because they were courageous in battle or possessed an ardent belief in their mission or ideology?

Pat Tillman obviously didn't realize that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were planned long before 9-11 occurred and both were intimately connected to US control of oil reserves, rather than to any so-called war on terrorism. He was probably oblivious to the fact that terrorism has been used before in history as an excuse for wars of aggression, perpetrated for other reasons. Hitler used the excuses of communist terrorism and terrorism against Germans for his annexations of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Ronald Reagan had his own war against terrorism in Central America in order to defeat socialist revolutions there, which were a threat to the capitalist system. Our own American revolutionaries were considered to be terrorists by the British. Using fear as a means of manipulation and control is nothing new.

Therefore, Pat Tillman was not defending the American people, as he imagined, but by participating in a war against the innocent people of Afghanistan and Iraq was actually increasing the anger and resentment towards the United States and raising the probability of another terrorist attack on the US mainland, rather than diminishing such a probability. He may just as well have worn the company logos of Chevron-Texaco and Exxon-Mobil on his uniform as the US flag because this is who he really was fighting for, as well as the weapons manufacturers and companies like Halliburton and Bechtel. 9-11 was the fear-inspiring event that George W. Bush cynically utilized to pursue his real agenda of corporate domination and profiteering.

In my opinion, the real heroes are people like Ron Kovic, Stan Goff and other veterans who have taken the time and effort to discover the truth about recent wars and the nature of imperialism. They are willing to oppose US interventions in other countries and suffer the ridicule and disapprobation of American society for challenging some of its most cherished myths-myths like the continuous glorification of war and the supposition that American troops always fight for noble goals like freedom and democracy. They also attempt to educate military personnel and that is essential in stopping this scourge of war. People are heroes for fighting against the real ills afflicting humanity like slavery, racism, oppression and injustice, not for fighting for myths created by a ruling class intent on wars for their own benefit. That is simply a wasted life.

The glaring hypocrisy of the US corporate media in its hero worship is easily illustrated by the Spanish Civil War. American soldiers, such as those in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, fought fascism in Spain and the troops and modern weapons of Hitler and Mussolini years before World War 2 started. They exhibited extraordinary courage in fighting tanks and airplanes with small arms and outdated artillery. Were these brave American soldiers of the "greatest American generation" called heroes in the US corporate media? No, they were either ignored or labeled "premature antifascists." Some were even hounded by the FBI for years after World War 2 and lost job after job for being leftists. Every American knows about the heroes of the Normandy landing on D-day, but ask an average American if they have ever heard of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Obviously, the criteria for who is deemed worthy of being depicted as a hero by the US corporate media is determined purely on economic and political motivations and not on actual courage or sacrifice, as the corporate media so pompously pretend.

I knew the instant I learned that Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan that the corporate media were going to make a propaganda extravaganza out of his death, lasting days, if not weeks. After all, MSNBC calls every American soldier killed in Iraq a "hero" and has a whole wall dedicated to them with photos of the deceased soldiers. From time to time the hosts relate little stories about these soldiers lives to their audience. No mention is given to poisonous effects of the US military's use of depleted uranium on the health of other potential "heroes." Little emphasis is placed on Iraqi casualties or the great suffering and misery of the Iraqi people. Neither the Pentagon nor the corporate media keep an accounting of the Iraqi dead and wounded. Of course, the insinuation here is that only American lives matter and the Iraqis are subhuman, much as Goebbels depicted the Jews and Slavs.

It has been my perception from watching war after war involving the United States that the corporate media always attempt to glorify each and every war and build public support for it, no matter how ridiculous the justifications for the war or how illegal, immoral and destructive the war happens to be. That glorification is probably the greatest evil perpetrated by the US corporate media and very dangerous to humanity's survival in an age of nuclear weapons. However, it is understandable, when one considers many of these media corporations are owned by weapons manufacturers.

Gary Sudborough
- e-mail: IconoclastGS@aol.com
- Homepage: http://www.theblackflag.org/iconoclast

Comments

Hide the following 15 comments

What a pity

26.04.2004 07:36

The political agenda you put forward is clear for all to see however to question the bravery of men and women who have in the past and do now make the choice to put the lives at risk to protest you is reprehensible.

When you the guts to do what they have done are are doing your views will be valid.

Simon


A wasted life indeed..

26.04.2004 11:39

.. for being so stupid as to buy into all the propoganda. You see simon, there would appear to be a fine line between bravery and stupidity. I assume you're all in favour of whats happening in iraq and afghanistan, with the delivery of democracy and peace and love and justice for all the "ragheads". However, when you the guts to do what they have done are are doing your views will be valid.

You know, its a bit reminiscent of when those four mercenaries were grilled in fallujah. All the sorrow and grief in the world was gushed forth by the media, whilst convieniently ignoring the fact that those scumbags CHOSE to go to another country as an occupier.

One less overfed moronic meathead in the world is fine by me though.



Abdul Kareem


More's the pity

26.04.2004 11:44

Would Simon also concede, then, that the hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned fighters of Fallujah, who have, just as the members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. "...exhibited extraordinary courage in fighting tanks and airplanes with small arms and outdated artillery" not also be considered as heroes and lionised upon their deaths? They are, after all, fighting with tenacity, courage and conviction, regardless of casualties for the liberation of their homeland, their pride, and their sense of nationhood. Dulce et decorum est pro patra mori, and all that!

bendeus


You assume . . .

26.04.2004 12:48

You assume I support the war in Iraq, I do not. I strongly oppose it.

You assume I support the actions of the UK and US in Falluja and other parts of Iraq, I do not.

I do however recognise the bravery of a man (or woman) who volunters to fight for and defend his country. It is a unique descion to take, and one that not many on IM have taken. When they have made that descion they will be in a position to decide on its merits.

Simon


not protecting his country

26.04.2004 14:37

he was enforcing the bully boy american foreign policy (because they wanted blood for their own stupidity and arrogance).

People who sign up to the army to 'protect' their country but in fact know that they are the aggressor are not heros or brave.

fredrico
mail e-mail: musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk


Fool`

26.04.2004 15:55

Thank Fredrico for your insight into the mind of a man you never met or knew.

X


Reply to Simon

26.04.2004 16:15

How could you possibly misinterpret my whole article when in the very first sentence I said there was no doubt about Pat Tillman's bravery? What I was questioning was his mistaken belief that he was somehow fighting terrorism, rather than actually fighting for the American and British oil companies and other corporations making a profit in Iraq. Many soldiers have died in battle because they were lied to by their governments and were actually fighting for the objectives of a ruling elite. American soldiers are not fighting for their country- they are fighting for the interests of the ruling class of that country- the Rockefellers, DuPonts, Morgans, Mellons, etc. The fact that the US ruling class cares nothing about them is evidenced by their willingness to ship their jobs overseas to sweatshops in Third World countries, break their unions, lower their wages, deny them medical benefits, etc, etc. Their complete disregard is also evidenced by the US military's use of depleted uranium, which can give the soldiers cancers and their children birth defects.

Gary Sudborough
mail e-mail: IconoclastGS@aol.com
- Homepage: http://www.theblackflag.org/iconoclast


You Are Just Wrong. Period.

27.04.2004 20:31

There is no proof that these wars were planned prior to 9/11.

They are generally a reaction to America being attacked on 9/11.

The U.S. needs energy; there is nothing wrong with pursuing the largest and most stable sources available. What would the alternative be?

Not So Silent Majority


Pay for your oil aresehole

28.04.2004 00:46

Nearly all the attackers were Saudi buddies of yours...so why Afganistan and Iraq?
The alternative you moron is to pay for your oil ...and stop being greedy obesce Nazis wankers.

ernesto


So now what?

29.04.2004 20:27

Look we are there if we pulled out of this war then what. Leave the mothers of those conacer rided children? Besides how are we not to know that the effect of what seems to be a recent use of radioactive munisions to not be effect of muster gas and other nerve gases that Sadam himself used on the people? I'm not saying that any weapon used that has more dier effects than killing the individual is justifiable, however how do we know what is the causes of these illness. As far as a missconception for people to give up there life not to be a hero. That all depends on whom is looking through the window. Suicide bombers are heros to palestine. As American soliders are heroes to Americans. However in death the individual has to make and individual choice. It is in that choice it's self we must repsect.
-dD

dD


Pat Tillman

29.04.2004 21:35

You compare Pat Tillman's sacrifice--a sacrifice he willingly made for FREEDOM--to the "sacrifice" made by kamikaze pilots or Nazi soldiers. This is a disgusting comparison, one that serves no purpose other than to reveal your twisted pro-Marxist, pro-Islamofascist views.

You bemoan the defeat of socialist revolutions in Central America. How can someone ignore the history of Marxism--the pogroms in the Soviet Union, the horrors of mass starvation and concentration camps in North Korea, the complete intolerance for "non-conformist" thought that results in long prison sentences or worse (Cuba, Vietnam, Cuba, Soviet Union, North Korea, the list goes on...), the widespread shortage of food and other essentials--to believe that Marxism is superior to capitalism?? For the same reason, please explain your apparent infatuation with Islamism. Name one Islamist country that allows for true freedom of expression.

I truly appreciate the sacrifice Pat Tillman made for freedom--freedom not just for Americans, but freedom for all people in the world. As a former American soldier, I also realize that Pat Tillman was not "duped" by anyone. Unlike you, he understood the difference between freedom and oppression, good versus evil. He gave his life for those who appreciate freedom, and unfortunately for ungrateful idiots like you who enjoy the benefits of a free society such as the UK or US, yet hypocritically denounce the capitalist system as "unfair" or "oppressive." Your intellectual laziness, ignorance, hatred, and ingratitude disgust me.

John

John B.


Pitiful dupe

30.04.2004 08:33

Rumsfeld, fighting for FREEDOM
Rumsfeld, fighting for FREEDOM

Pat Tillman may have died thinking he was fighting for freedom, and may have had the very noblest goals in mind when he signed up to fight for your war. But you, who are still alive and able to learn the facts of the matter for yourself, have no excuse for your wilfull ignorance.

How is fighting in Iraq advancing the cause of FREEDOM? Name one single US military action since WWII which has improved the lives of the people in the country the US has invaded, bombed, infiltrated with CIA ops, etc. How can someone ignore the history of capitalism: tens of millions dead, many more tortured and "disappeared", in Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Indonesia, etc. by your FREEDOM-loving pals like Pinochet, Suharto, Rios-Montt, Stroessner, etc.

The truth is that the US doesn't give a flying fuck about FREEDOM, which is why it supported Saddam for so long, and continues to support dictators around the world as bad or worse than Saddam, in Uzbekistan, Saudi, etc. You've just upped your cash contribution in a big way to "President" Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, who likes to boil his critics alive, and arrest the victims' families if they protest. You've got to keep the boy sweet though, 'cause your precious fucking oil and gas have to cross his country to get to your tankers. And for the same reasons, the US continues to enthusiastically support dictatorships in Pakistan and Saudi, where the accused 9/11 hijackers came from.

And if Saddam had stayed obedient, he would still be your "ally in the war on terror" today, same as Gadaffi's Libya, Musharraff's Pakistan, Saudi, and the rest.

Unlike you, I understand the difference between freedom and oppression, good versus evil. Your intellectual laziness, blinkered ignorance and hatred disgust me. You're so typical of your kind, and Bush got where he was on the back of useful idiots like you.

Ian


pick and choose

02.05.2004 15:33

Pick and choose your battles...in the cold war it was us and them. If your with us we took the good with the bad. We all were afraid of violent revloution and speaking Russian...so you shake hands with the devil and that situation made the US so unpopular(Aliance with Saddam's Iraq in the 80's, Israel). Name one operation since WWII, Bosnia. And Don't say that was the UN I was there and The US was most of the troops on the ground. One more Afganistan. And most of the other "situations" you name or "unofficial wars of the CIA" seems to had revolution brewing amongst the people anyway. But times have changed since Rummy shaking hands with Sadam. The wall came down and now we can pick and choose. And it's not black and white whose the good guys and bacs guys. For countries like Saudi Arabia they are semi-free by there own choosing. Some Dictatorships keep warlords in check and that keeps the peace. Prime example Pakistan (another black powder keg waiting to go off with India) And on the history of Capitalism your seem to be looking at seems to be the History of revolution in general which has always been bloody since the American Rev. Hell look and the Frech Rev. like that wasn't bloody right. But and switching of power is bloody period. Even in a Communist state which (great example china) the army is taking over providences that "used to belong to old china" through any means possible (poor Tibet). Any way back to some key points. This wasn't about oil. If it was gas would not have gone up $1.00 US in the past years. The Us still buys it's oil from Opec nations. So if we went to war over oil we would be in Saudia Arabia Right? The hijackers;They may have been from Saudi however trained in Afganistan. And last time check Libya is still on the terrorist nation list. Knowing the diffrence between good and evil is not black and white due to change and absolute power beside the world will never truly be ride of evil(to many people like french wine..kidding). Pat Tillman died fighting for his independent beliefs that supported freedom which is an honerable way to die. Side note removing Saddam was like removing cancer if left in it could be dormant or killing you but you really don't know so we usually get it taken out before it hurts you. Besides when we leave Iraqis and the world will have to worry about one less Dictator right?

dD


Clarifying your history

03.05.2004 12:38

Anyone who still thinks we had reason to be afraid of "speaking Russian" is an ignorant fool. There was never a threat of invasion from the USSR, though there certainly was the threat of all-out nuclear war thanks to the arms race.

"so you shake hands with the devil and that situation made the US so unpopular(Aliance with Saddam's Iraq in the 80's, Israel)."

The US alliances with Iraq and Israel were not stemming from the Cold War, though Cold War politics touched on those relationships as it touched on everything else. By the 80s it was clear as crystal that the Stalinist USSR was finished as a threat. The US and UK backed Saddam as a bulwark against Shia nationalism and Islamism. Saddam's Baath party was brought to power by the CIA to get rid of the former Iraq nationalist Kassem government. Saddam was a Stalinist himself, and had USSR backing for decades. Yet we bought him out as an ally, because he was willing to do business on our terms, use the dollar as the oil currency, etc. And if the relationship with Israel was simply about defeating the USSR, the USA wouldn't still be sucking Sharon's cock today.

Naming Bosnia, and even worse naming Afghanistan, as examples of lives improved by US military action is such a sick joke that I almost hesitate to dignify it with a response. The US deliberately started the breakup of Yugoslavia by insisting on rapid recognition of the breakaway states, and gave Milosevic the excuse he needed to go in with the tanks. Check the casualty numbers,and you'll find that they went shooting up when the US started bombing. Bosnia today is now a NATO protectorate, and would collapse straight back into bloody civil war if the troops were removed. Churches are still being burned down, and Serbs are still being forced to flee. Do you really think this an improvement over life in the former Yugoslavia, before the US pushed so hard for its breakup?

Life in Afghanistan has gone right back to its usual daily horror. All that's changed is the Taliban are gone, and life is as it was before them. In their place is your "ally in the war on terror", that sick bastard General Dostum, and his moral equivalents who run the rest of the country outside of Kabul. Women are still forced to wear the Burqa, and life is still a grinding hell. But your oil will get through, so the nominal GDP will rise, and you evil bastards can claim that it's all been a huge success.

"And most of the other "situations" you name or "unofficial wars of the CIA" seems to had revolution brewing amongst the people anyway."

Yes, they wanted to try to build a life for themselves, without taking your wishes into account. How very unfortunate for them. So you had to go in and kill them in their millions, by bombing them, invading them, and installing proxy governments to do the work for you when you pulled your troops out.

"For countries like Saudi Arabia they are semi-free by there own choosing."

I would like to hear precisely what the Saudi people are free to do. Semi-free? By their own choosing? What the fuck are you talking about?

"This wasn't about oil. If it was gas would not have gone up $1.00 US in the past years."

What are you saying here? If the war was about oil, then the price would be going down, so since the price has gone up it must not have been about oil? Is that your logic?

"Even in a Communist state which (great example china) the army is taking over providences that "used to belong to old china" through any means possible (poor Tibet)."

Yes, poor Tibet. So why does your freedom-loving country keep importing more and more from China, and keep granting them Most Favored Nation trading status? The answer is simple: the US doesn't gave a fuck about human rights or freedom. You only care only about propping up your business partners, and getting cheap gas for your SUVs.

"The Us still buys it's oil from Opec nations. So if we went to war over oil we would be in Saudia Arabia Right?"

You don't need to go to war in Saudi, or Kuwait, etc. over oil. You have tame dictatorships there doing the job for you. But as soon as they lose power, or get disobedient like Saddam did, you will go in guns blazing, blathering on about "freedom".

"They may have been from Saudi however trained in Afganistan."

Still believing that lie, are you? Have you checked on the evidence for this yet? Do you still believe that we went to war in Iraq over WMDs too?

"Besides when we leave Iraqis and the world will have to worry about one less Dictator right?"

Wrong. The world will have one less formerly-US-backed dictator. The new US-backed dictators will keep right on coming.

Iraq will have a new dictator too: you've already started putting Baathists back in charge, like the General you've just installed to run Falluja. And so long as they stay obedient, and keep doing business on your terms, you'll turn a blind eye to all the brutal shit they get up to, same as you did so long for Saddam.

Ian


The REAL wasted life

28.01.2006 21:20

It seems to me, Mr. Sudborogh, that the only one wasting their life is you. I am a woman in the United States Army and I believe with all my heart that the men and women I serve with are heroes . If you could see what I see, hear what I hear, and feel what I feel every day, doing the job I do, then I know you would change your mind. You should not feel sorry for us because you think we are blindly being led along, believing that we can make a difference. We ARE making a difference, and you sir, are the one who is blind. I pray every day for the people of America who have hardened their hearts and minds towards the military as you have. I pray that one day they will understand, and one day they will feel the pride that I have, the pride that I have earned.

Brittany Heckman
mail e-mail: b15tiny@aol.com