His being in Iraq doesn't preclude his being killed in Afghanistan.
Tillman was as entitled to a political view on the wisdom of the war as anyone else, even if it isn't one that I would agree with.
The fact that a sports celeb like Tillman kept his views to his close friends and didn't use his fame to amplify them merely reinforces my good opinion of him. He would be prohibited from doing so by the UCMJ, but that wouldn't have stopped a less honorable man.
This in no way diminishes my regard for his service and his willingness to leave fortune behind at great risk to his safety.
I just find the story about Tillman suspicious, even aside from him being killed in afghanistan. For instance, how is the war in Iraq illegal but the one in Afghanistan legal? What laws are being broken in Iraq, but being abided by in Afghanistan?
It seems hard to believe that Tillman spoke in that manner. He may have, but I'm not buying it.
But I agree, if he was anti Iraq War and pro Kerry, I still respect and admire him for doing his job and not deserting.
He was in both (MSNBC article)
however, he was in Iraq in March 2003. It doesn't say when he went to Afghanistan. From the article:
"Pat Tillman was first deployed to Iraq in March 2003; it was not immediately clear when he was sent to Afghanistan, where he served in the same unit with his brother."
"Tillman, 27, was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. The battalion was involved in Operation Mountain Storm in southeastern Afghanistan, part of the U.S. campaign against fighters of the al-Qaida terror network and the former Taliban government along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, military officials told NBC News."