US army faulted in Tillman case

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Army investigators have criticised nine US officers over the mis-reported death of former American football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

Corporal Tillman was killed in April 2004 in a friendly fire incident, but his family was told he died while fighting the enemy.

A Pentagon watchdog recommended action be taken against nine officers, including a number of generals.

But it found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and no deliberate cover-up.

The US Army is in the process of reviewing several hundred deaths of its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The move follows complaints from families of those who died that they have not always been given accurate information.

The Pentagon's inspector general said Tillman's family had not been told the truth about his death for more than a month, even though commanders knew soon after his death that he was probably killed by fellow soldiers.

It also recommended that the army look into its posthumous award of a Silver Star to Tillman, because some of the information provided to support it was incorrect.

Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren apologised to Tillman's family for the mistakes, and said the Silver Star would not be withdrawn.

"We as an army failed in our duty to the Tillman family," he said.

"We failed to live up to Army values."

Tillman's death was highly publicised in the US because he had given up a multi-million dollar professional football contract with the Arizona Cardinals to fight for his country.

He was initially reported as having met his death heroically at the hands of the enemy, not because of fatal mistakes by the US military.