American Sniper

Thomas Dixie Elliot with a short critical review of American Sniper. a movie about the military career Chris Kyle, a US Navy Seal. Dixie Elliot is a former blanket man and frequent online commenter.

American Sniper

 
Last night I watched Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, about Navy Seal Chris Kyle and was reminded of John Wayne's Green Berets.

American propaganda at it's gung-ho worst.

I Googled the guy and found out that the part were he kills a boy about to throw a grenade at Marines then the woman who gave it to him as she attempted to do likewise, was actually reported by CNN as a woman cradling a baby about to do the same thing. Clearly shit propaganda.

Then the Iraqi sniper who was picking off Marines like ducks at a shooting gallery until taken out by Chris Kyle.

 Googled. Not a mention of this sniper being killed by 'The most lethal sniper in U.S. military history...'

 It serves me right.

21 comments:

  1. Good man Dixie, seen your link to the article on him by the Guardian earlier. Conditioning of the mind is the purpose of Hollywood. Was it a good show? The ad looks the part

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  2. Mr am its people like you that's cost Irish republicans for centuries have not won one inch one iota have you not studied the caricatures of anti Irish propaganda portraying us as not human and stupid you can't shrug it of as a joke if people are getting hurt because of these caricatures i have admired you for year but not now who has profited out of what happened in France its not the Muslims that occupy the French ghettos

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  3. I saw this film as well.
    As a piece of entertainment it is the equal of the hurt locker.
    When I saw the trailer I thought it would be a pure propaganda piece.
    After seeing the film. I looked up Chris Kyle , on Wikipedia.
    And yes, he didn't come across as a likeable fellow (I had never heard from him before then and wasn't aware the film was based on him..I thought it as of a kind of Lord of War type film- where several real life people were merged into one character)

    After I read the article on Wiki..In the film he does refer to Iraqis as savages and he is questioned by an officer about the "koran" incident.
    But by and large he does come across better than he has a right to.
    Other points of interest in the real World it has been said that the USA preferred to use Polish snipers because their rules of engagement were less strict than the "rules" governing the USA. I picked that up from the book Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks.

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  4. Ozzy,'the USA preferred to use Polish snipers because their rules of engagement were less strict than the "rules" governing the USA.'

    Just like the British sub-contracting torturers to foreign countries I suppose. In "Cruel Brittania" by Ian Cobain (which is often mentioned on this site) it explains that the British do so to distance itself from torture.

    What relationship do the Polish snipers have to the US Army. Are they members of allied armies or mercenaries or what?

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  5. Nicila... WTF..

    What do you know about the local Taliban in the leafy suburbs apart from what you read in press or watch on BFMtv, SKY and or other..?


    The local Taliban aren't running scared.. The French are and French Jews (like my oldest wee girl) are extra vigilant..


    The local Taliban have been living in slums in the leafy suburbs as far back as I remember and no one gave a fcuk then and even less give a fcuk now.

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  6. Simon.
    it was a case of Polish soldiers been called in as Allies. They still wore Polish Uniforms just they were directed to shoot by Americans..It wasn't just Polish The book named another Nation also, but I forget.
    It was a good book though.
    Anybody with an interest in it I recommend reading it. The C-in-C of the US army was against the war in Iraq.
    He thought the US policy of containment was working.
    In order to chop him off at the feet..a successor was named one year before he was due to retire thus making him a lame duck.
    General Tommy Franks who lead the war..comes across as someone who doesn't understand the difference between tactics and strategy.
    And general Pretaus was accused by other officers of just buying off insurgents in the place he occupied before the surge.
    http://tigerhawk.blogspot.co.uk/2006/08/polish-snipers-and-most-excellent.html

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  7. Ozzy,

    I have that book and given what you said will try to get reading it sooner rather than later. Any other recommendations you might have?

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  8. Frankie,

    it is angering that your daughter has to live in fear because she is Jewish. In much of the commentary about France the Jewish victims seem an after thought.

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  9. Hello Anthony.
    Yes I thought "Losing Small wars.." by Frank Ledwidge.
    A very good read about the British experience in both Iraq and Afghanastan. He exposes the British High command. After reading this book I found myself agreeing with Mr Ledwidges' theory, that the British Army have created a stab in the back argument like the Germans in 1918 about the British politicians breaking the British army. This is played out in the media. This book reveals just how Gung-ho the British Officer Class were..And the media leaves them alone. A very interesting read. He describes How the British got to go into Helmand Provence And why this was a mistake that they went into against advice!!!!! The BBC don't mention this in news bulletins!! ( although it was mention briefly in the documentary "Afghanistan: The Lion's Last Roar?- Frank Ledwidge was interviewed for this 2 part documentary.)
    Another good book I read some time ago..mainly about 9/11 and the run up to that was Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. Steve Coll has a few videos on YouTube. mainly interviews. Ghost wars might be a bit outdated as it's not about Iraq..But I liked it. Easy to read a page turner.

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  10. What I've done Anthony is copy & pasted the question and asked her directly on FB... She's living & studying law in the south of France, close (30km) from Marseille (kinda like a mini Algerian state in parts)....

    Sometime today between lectures/class she'll get back to me and I'll let you know..

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  11. Frankie,

    good job. We'll see what it brings.

    Ozzy,

    thanks for that. Always appreciate getting a recommendation for a read.

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  12. I've just emailed you the of sorts of convos between A father and his French daughter.. (too long for comments section)...

    I'm a 46 Belfast Rockabilly and she's an almost 21 yr French student...

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  13. Read that 'Ghost Wars' years ago ozzy, would definitely second it

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  14. This has made my fucking blood boil on a Sunday of all days, I cant believe what I am reading.
    How scholarly,putting Biblical quotes not used by the sniper, as some explanatory factor in his actions. Guess which religion they wont be using this method with?
    A quick look over the rest of the site confirms my suspicion:
    http://www.alternet.org/belief/billy-grahams-son-one-americas-most-dangerous-islamophobes

    Will this author be denounced as a racist? Why cant they do this with Islam? On a Sunday....

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