Columnist Dean Juipe: Tillman’s death renews war debate

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The Arizona Cardinals looked upon Pat Tillman as a catalyst, a tough but undersized defensive back who set a franchise record for tackles three seasons ago and was worthy of a $3.6 million contract.

But his death in Afghanistan last Thursday allows for the possibility, however distant it seems right this moment, that Tillman will emerge as a catalyst of a different kind. Might the loss of this brave, heroic man in an ambush that led into a firefight be the catalyst this country needs to once again reassess its involvement in the Middle East?

It's a subject that's now fair game for sports columnists, given the death of a professional athlete. Consider: Had Ted Williams been killed in Korea, isn't it possible that the nation's sporting press would have spurred if not led a public-opinion crusade to end that treacherous conflict?

Williams was shot down in Korea but survived.

Rocky Bleier was shot at in Vietnam and still works the banquet circuit.

Tillman was shot at in Afghanistan and died.

By Tuesday, 115 members of America's military force had been killed in April and 714 had died since the U.S. invaded Iraq in pursuit of Saddam Hussein (and freedom) last year.

The president wants to send more troops to the war site. And the presidential contender does, too, both in the arguably misguided belief that this is how to win the War on Terror.

But the War on Terror will not be resolved with a stroke in either the win or the loss column as if it were some sporting event with standings and statistics. It will be an ongoing battle that will never end, never culminate in a victory celebration by either side.

Tillman, 27, was the ultimate team player and one who hankered for a role as a professional military man. Nicknamed "Brave Heart" during his collegiate career at Arizona State, he joined the Army Rangers two years ago and quit the Cardinals -- despite his lucrative contract -- and was in a second tour of duty in Afghanistan as part of the 75th Ranger Battalion, an elite infantry force, when he was killed.

His upcoming funeral will be a very sad affair, yet no more sad (albeit, perhaps, better attended and chronicled) than the funerals of the Americans who preceded him as victims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These funerals will go on indefinitely, or until this country pressures its elected leaders to do something about it. Despite a wealth of good intentions, American forces in that part of the world face and will inevitably face daily threats from fascists, terrorists and hoodlums intent on eliminating a foreign presence.

Did you know that the U.S. is not the first democratic nation to attempt to instill its will in Iraq? The British, with the League of Nations' support, tried for three years before withdrawing in 1920 after losing 10,000 men.

Not much has changed in Iraq in the ensuing 84 years. There have been and always will be people there who despise Western ways and any attempt at bringing them into what we perceive to be the modern world.

Nonetheless, the United States has maximized its presence in that area and is pleading for additional support from its already wary, and weary, allies.

In Pat Tillman's name if not behalf, I say enough is enough. Futility is sufficient reason to concede.