The story of Pat Tillman’s death via friendly fire in Afghanistan is a tragic one, to be sure. It is also shaping up to be yet another problem for the White House, as evidence is mounting that the administration was aware of the friendly fire facts well before they were released to the public. The problem is, of course, that Tillman’s story was being used for pro-war propaganda at the time. (For those unfamiliar with the story, Tillman was a pro football player for the Arizona Cardinals who eschewed his multi-million dollar salary to join the Army Rangers because he was moved to fight terrorism after the events of 9/11).

The initial suggestion that political considerations may have influenced the disclosure about Tillman emerged a few weeks back, and include the fact that soon after Tillman’s death, the White House was warned that Tillman was likely killed by friendly fire. A recounting of that issue can be found here.

The story of Tillman’s death, what he family found out and when and the general handling of his death has been starting to slowly boil slightly under the news radar for the last several weeks. What I know about it I have heard, primarily, from the ESPN Radio’s Dan Patrick Show, where it has been discussed several times in the last couple of weeks, including an interview with Tillman’s mother.

The Congress has been looking the affair and now ABC has the following “Breaking” headline:

ARMY RANGER TELLS CONGRESS HE WAS ORDERED TO CONCEAL INFORMATION FROM PAT TILLMAN’S FAMILY ABOUT THE SOLDIER’S DEATH

While the Army might conceal information from a family about the death of a soldier if there were national security issues involved, there is (to date) no evidence that that was the motivation. Rather it seems that the positive benefits of Tillman’s story to the military and the administration, and the commensurate embarrassment that the real story would entail, was the motivation for the lack of initial candor concerning his death.

Indeed, at his memorial service, Tillman was specifically hailed as a hero whose death came while he was protecting his fellow soldiers–a story that was not true.

If that is proven to be the case, jobs should be lost and serious apologies are owed.

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