Army Wipes Its Feet on Pat Tillman

By Robert Scheer, Truthdig. Posted March 8, 2006.

The news of a fourth investigation into the former NFL star's death in Afghanistan is a clear rebuke for the Army.

Mary Tillman has been a model of patience and fortitude as she doggedly pursues the facts concerning her son Pat's death in Afghanistan two years ago. In that spirit, she welcomed as positive the news that the Pentagon's inspector general has asked the Army to launch an investigation into whether criminal negligence was involved in the "friendly fire" incident that resulted in the death of her football-star son who turned soldier.

That request by the inspector general, made after a review of three previous investigations, implies a clear rebuke of the military's handling of this case to date. But as much as Mary Tillman and the rest of the Tillman family hope this new inquiry will clear up the glaring contradictions and mysterious discrepancies of the previous accounts, she knows it is not prudent to be overly optimistic.