Blog | We put gun in American Sniper’s hands - and it didn’t make us safer
I couldn’t clap while watching “American Sniper,” and neither could most of the people in the full theater when I saw the movie last week.
Here are some of my initial thoughts about it from this weekend’s column:
When will the debate turn to why we put Kyle, and hundreds of thousands of American men and women, in a position that they had to choose between saving fellow soldiers or shooting young Iraqi boys from afar?
The hell that is war required Kyle to pull that trigger. Had he not, maybe dozens of U.S. soldiers would have been killed or wounded.
Though Kyle took the shot, once we committed to invading Iraq, we were just as responsible for that young Iraqi’s death, as well as more than 100,000 others.
We get to deny our culpability by holding steadfast to superficial slogans about supporting our troops while the soldiers have to live with emotional war scars and lost limbs and fallen friends and broken families and the highest military suicide rate in our country’s history.
Read more about the debate the movie has sparked:
Michael Moore pours more gas on “American Sniper” fire
From that piece:
After catching flak for his contentious remarks, Moore took to Facebook on Sunday to hit back at those accusing him of hating the troops. Damage control, it wasn’t.
“Well, who would know better about hating our troops than those who supported sending them into a senseless war Iraq in the first place? And, for 4,482 of them, a senseless, unnecessary and regrettable death,” he wrote.
“If you supported that invasion, if you voted for George W. Bush and the Republicans and Democrats who backed this war, then you are the ones who have some ‘splainin’ to do. Not me. You.”
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I couldn’t clap during the movie because it gave me the same feeling when I watched “Captain Phillip,” the movie starring Tom Hanks about the plight of a ship captain who was captured by Somali pirates.
The movie drove home the point that the pirates were mostly poor, desperate young men and had no chance against the world’s greatest military. The precision of the U.S. snipers in that movie was something to behold; they were expert beyond expert.
But the field was so titled towards one side that while what those SEALS did seemed magnificent, that they had to do it, and against a gang of poor, young men, did not leave a sense of pride in my heart. I was sad more than satisfied about what happened to them, and for the SEALS who had to carry out that mission.
I felt the same way about Chris Kyle, the man portrayed in “American Sniper” by Bradley Cooper. I marveled at his expertise and dedication to those fighting alongside him. That was a sight to behold. But he had to shoot little boys and women - who were clearly desperate beings - because his country sent him there to do it.
There has to be a way in which we can appreciate the incredibly difficult jobs the soldiers on the ground are tasked with doing without turning these discussions into boilerplate political rants or blind patriotism.
Yes, we should support the troops. Sometimes, though, that must mean fighting harder to make sure they don’t have to make the kinds of heart-wrenching decisions Kyle had to make in the field.
From readers:
Thank you for a great article.
JAMES/RETIRED MILITARY
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Dear Issac,
Critics should walk a mile in some ones shoes before being negative. Chris Kyle did a job that most Americans would not do, or could not do. I totally respect this man for doing it. Who knows what ghosts he harbored in his mind. Calling the terrorist a young boy is bull, call a spade a spade, he was a killer, a terrorist plain and simple. I for one am glad he and his Mother, if you can call her that, are dead, as all these scum should be. These people are the same in every Generation, whether they are Nazis or Fascists, or any other type of Fanatics. We cannot reason with people who are determined to kill us, the only thing that they understand is terror to them. Anyone that thinks we can win the minds and hearts of these things is NOT playing with a full deck. We should adopt Blackjack Pershings ideas and do to them as they do to us. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Have a nice day.
EDWARD
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Liked your column on us getting into wars. Those who are complaining about the sniper movie don't understand what is going on. Or maybe, they just need some head lines. Of course, spies were used since the beginning of war and politics. But starting with Korea, the commies started using women with venereal disease to hurt the other side. They also hid as women and old people coming down the trail as refugees. In Vietnam they went further. They had kids as look outs for mortar attacks on our troops. They used kids to deliver packages to our guys with bombs in them. In the middle east, they hide behind women as they did in Iraq. Knowing the Brits would not shoot at them among the women and children. Sorry to say but if the Brits shot the hell out of them, they would not use women and kids for shelter. They would figure out real quick it don't work. We had no problem bombing Europe during the second world war. We have forgotten that war is hell and putting restrictions on our troops only causes losses of our people. Not to mention the war is extended, costing us a whole lot more than is should.
I do feel like we were wrong in the first Iraq war. We should not have been there. I listened to a lot of the talking heads telling us how good it would be for the people to get rid of Hussein. Look at the place now. Christians are on the run, yes, Saddam and his kids were brutes, but they were Iraq's brutes. Why didn't the Arab nations do the job without us? Remember the Kuwait charge that the soldiers killed preemie babies. Lies and more lies, but we fell for it hook line and sinker. Iraq was getting screwed out of deep water ports for their oil. It could have been easily settled as a business matter.
Just to show you how screwed up that group is. They put all kinds of faith in the Iranians. They are not even Arab, but Persians. So, their saviors are looking to control the dumb masses as far as I can see.
CARMEN
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Dear Mr. Bailey - First let me say I have never written to you before - I was tempted but did not do it. I also have to say that I have a "Love-Hate" relationship with your articles. Today I felt obligated to reply. How can you possibly believe and state that we are NOT in a Religious War with ISIS/ISIL when they have stated that they will NOT STOP killing people until everyone in this world is a member of their RADICAL MUSLIM RELIGION. We allow them to practice their religion in our country but murder anyone who does not practice their RADICAL RELIGION in the middle east. and are determined to slaughter us all. This doesn't sound like a God Loving religion but a fanatic cult. Thank You
GLORIA
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I have not seen the movie and don't intend to, but of course heard enough about it to realize what it's all about. Your column expressed my views to a tee. Unfortunately, watching the news, especially Fox News, the cowards are salivating and people like Lindsay Graham are trying their hardest to get us into as many wars as possible, and should we get a Republican president, you could be assured that we will.
BERT
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This story was originally published January 26, 2015 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Blog | We put gun in American Sniper’s hands - and it didn’t make us safer."