Controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill says he does not advocate “fragging” U.S. military officers in spite of how recent comments he made have been portrayed.

Churchill, speaking at an anti- military forum in Portland, Ore., military remarks

“Conscientious objection removes a given piece of the cannon fodder from the fray,” he said. “Fragging an officer has a much more impactful effect.”

His remarks were posted Sunday on the Pirate Ballerina blog site, which carries mostly anti- Churchill content. On Wednesday, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly played a tape of the remarks.

Reached at his home in Boulder County on Wednesday night, Churchill said the comments were made merely to spark discussion and not to take a position on fragging, which is the killing or injuring of an officer in combat by a subordinate.

He said that his remarks were being taken out of context and sensationalized in an effort to drive him from his job as a CU professor.

“I neither advocated nor suggested to anyone, anything,” Churchill said. “I asked them to think about where they stood on things.”

According to the tape, Churchill, while speaking about being a conscientious objector, asked his audience:

“Would you render the same support to someone who hadn’t conscientiously objected, but rather instead rolled a grenade under their line officer in order to neutralize the combat capacity of their unit?”

When one of the forum’s attendees said that the impact such a fragging might have on the officer’s family should be considered, Churchill replied, “How do you feel about Adolf Eichmann’s family?”

Churchill said Wednesday night that he found it “interesting” that he spoke for more than two hours that night and that a few remarks were “spun out of context.”

What he meant by the remarks, he said, was: “Think about what you’re talking about and what you’re doing. Think, in other words. … If we can all take a deep breath, I’m not talking to a roomful of troops. Nobody in that room is going to frag an officer. … I didn’t tell anyone in that room to do a damn thing except think.”

Statements about Eichmann, a World War II-era Nazi official who helped manage the slaughter of 6 million Jews, were what brought Churchill to national notoriety in the first place.

In remarks that came to light earlier this year, the ethnic-studies professor suggested that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City was justified, calling some of the people working in the twin towers “little Eichmanns.”

There have been calls for Churchill’s removal as a tenured professor at the state school, and the university has launched an investigation into his academic activities.

Churchill has been accused of plagiarism, academic fraud and misrepresenting his Native American heritage. He is under investigation by the school’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct.

CU interim chancellor Phil DiStefano could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Staff writer Felisa Cardona contributed to this report.