WASHINGTON — The brother of Army Ranger Pat Tillman accused the Pentagon and the Bush administration Tuesday of deliberately concealing the circumstances of the former football star's friendly fire death in Afghanistan in an attempt to avoid embarrassment.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his brother was killed in Afghanistan three years ago, Kevin Tillman at a congressional hearing accused Army and administration officials of exploiting his brother's death to shift attention away from the detainee abuses at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which at the time was about to become a public relations nightmare for the military.
Investigations by the Army, including an inspector general's report late last month, have not established any conspiracy to cover up the cause of Tillman's April 2004 death. But top officers, including four generals, have been criticized for failing to tell his family the truth for more than a month afterward, and could face criminal charges.
Kevin Tillman, who gave up a minor league baseball career to enlist with his older brother in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and was near his sibling when he was shot by fellow American soldiers, said the military's early, heroic depiction of Pat's death was "utter fiction" intended to deceive not just a grieving family, but the entire country.
"To our family and friends, it was a devastating loss. To the nation, it was a moment of disorientation. To the military, it was a nightmare," Kevin Tillman said, his voice wavering with emotion. "But to others within the government, it appears to have been an opportunity."
He charged that in his brother's case, evidence had been destroyed, an autopsy did not conform to regulations, and witness testimony "disappeared into thin air."
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he called the hearing -- which also included testimony by former Iraq prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch -- because "the bare minimum we owe our soldiers and their families is the truth."
In the cases of Pat Tillman and Lynch, Waxman said, "the government violated its most basic responsibility."
Referring to the military's efforts to portray Tillman as a combat hero, he added: "I come from Hollywood. I expect show biz in Hollywood, not from the military."
The hearing showed how Tillman's death and the military's response provoke heated emotion and produce gripping drama three years after the botched Army operation in Afghanistan.
