“After Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former-NFL-star-turned-Ranger, was accidentally killed by his own troops in Afghanistan in April [22] 2004, [Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command Stanley] McChrystal took an active role in creating the impression that Tillman had died at the hands of Taliban fighters. He signed off on a falsified recommendation for a Silver Star that suggested Tillman had been killed by enemy fire. (McChrystal would later claim he didn’t read the recommendation closely enough–a strange excuse for a commander known for his laserlike attention to minute details.) A week later, McChrystal sent a memo up the chain of command, specifically warning that President Bush should avoid mentioning the cause of Tillman’s death. ‘If the circumstances of Corporal Tillman’s death become public,’ he wrote, it could cause ‘public embarrassment’ for the president.”
– Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, July 8-22, 2010