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American Sniper: A Contrarian View
Coach is Right ^ | 1/18/15 | Michael D. Shaw

Posted on 01/18/2015 8:18:04 AM PST by Oldpuppymax

By now, the story of Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle is familiar. He holds the record for the most confirmed kills, he wrote a book which led to a movie, and he was killed on a shooting range by a PTSD ex-Marine. There is also the troubling business regarding comments he made about Jesse Ventura.

No doubt, he was a skillful killer. By all accounts, he displayed little emotion—possibly facilitated by the extreme distance from his targets.

OK. Skillful killer, shows little emotion, and kills only the bad guys. But for the fact that these deaths are sanctioned by the State, how is his career fundamentally different from Richard Kuklinski, the notorious Iceman? Arguably, many of Kyle’s targets are soldiers doing their thing, albeit for the other side, and are probably nowhere near as “bad” as the Mafia scumbags offed by Kuklinski. Possibly, one distinction is that Kyle’s targets might kill “innocent” people. I assume we would define “innocent” as non-combatants.

Of course, a non-combatant can still aid the enemy.

But, let’s move on. Given Kyle’s tremendous skill, why was he not deployed in missions to assassinate enemy leaders, rather than combatant targets on the ground? Why do we have Marquess of Queensberry rules that seem to prohibit killing the very leaders who are promoting these wars in the first place? No doubt, there were dozens of opportunities for the Allies to take out locations where Hitler was ensconced, for example. Somehow, though, the only such operations were inside jobs, and they failed.

With all due respect, what was wrong in the minds of Kyle and Chad Littlefield, that they would take strung-out Eddie Ray Routh...

(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Military/Veterans; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: americansniper; bradleycooper; chriskyle; clinteastwood; jesseventura; moviereview; pimpmyblog; richardkuklinski; warnerbros
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To: Boogieman
#1 - The current enemy is not dependent on leaders, so taking out their leaders will not stop them. #2 - It’s never wise to give your enemy a martyr, especially when you have put in a lot of effort to demoralize them. #3 - It’s a violation of international and domestic laws. #4 - If we assassinate foreign leaders, then foreign countries feel free to assassinate our leaders in return.

And? Why are their lives so sacrosanct whilst the poor saps at the bottom of the food chain are expendable?

21 posted on 01/18/2015 8:39:50 AM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: waterhill

And yes Kyle did knock Ventura on his ass, true story.


22 posted on 01/18/2015 8:40:54 AM PST by waterhill (I Shall Remain, in spite of __________.)
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To: waterhill
I will no longer read this blog

I'm done with it as well. This article was sick and twisted, like something out of a far-left hate site.

23 posted on 01/18/2015 8:41:20 AM PST by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: Doctor 2Brains

The flick and the book are pretty much opposite. I loved the movie as a war movie but the book told a different story. He was a redneck badass who answered the call of his country who’s came back pretty messed up but was getting it together and was murdered for his trouble. He was far from perfect but I am not one to judge.


24 posted on 01/18/2015 8:42:23 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: Oldpuppymax
Arguably, many of Kyle’s targets are soldiers doing their thing, albeit for the other side, and are probably nowhere near as “bad” as the Mafia scumbags offed by Kuklinski.
False.
25 posted on 01/18/2015 8:43:50 AM PST by Bratch
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To: Oldpuppymax
But, let’s move on. Given Kyle’s tremendous skill, why was he not deployed in missions to assassinate enemy leaders, rather than combatant targets on the ground? Why do we have Marquess of Queensberry rules that seem to prohibit killing the very leaders who are promoting these wars in the first place?

Good point. We used to. Eisenhower or JFK probably would have taken out Erdogan, as we should now.

26 posted on 01/18/2015 8:44:08 AM PST by montag813
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To: Oldpuppymax

WARRIOR .. until the writer understands what a “warrior” is and always has been .. they will never be able to answer any of the why’s.

Chris Kyle was a WARRIOR. He was fashioned and born for that purpose. The ordinary life of a wife and kids and the picket fence was not why he was born. He was born to save the lives of thousands of young men who were born to be husbands, fathers, with the white picket fence.

Until people can grasp that .. save the tears and the questions .. because people will never understand.

To get a glimpse into the WARRIOR personna, people should read more of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor books. They epitomize what a true WARRIOR really is. They are the most un-superficial people you will ever meet .. and that’s why they seem to be emotionless.


27 posted on 01/18/2015 8:44:47 AM PST by CyberAnt ("The hope and changey stuff did not work, even a smidgen.")
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To: sinsofsolarempirefan

“And? Why are their lives so sacrosanct whilst the poor saps at the bottom of the food chain are expendable?”

It’s just a practical reality that the leader of the country dying is a greater loss than an infantryman dying. That doesn’t mean one life is worth more than the other, but the consequences are greater for the nation.


28 posted on 01/18/2015 8:44:59 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

How bout this one...
Because the leaders wrote the Marquis of Queensbury rules.


29 posted on 01/18/2015 8:48:28 AM PST by ez (RIP America 1776-2014. Long live the oligarchy.)
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To: Boogieman

If some country is run by a dangerous entity, it is much better to kill them than it is 10s of thousands of enemy grunts and civilians, not to mention those on your own side.

Besides, if Saddam Hussein could have organised Bush’s or Blair’s assassination, he would have.


30 posted on 01/18/2015 8:48:48 AM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: Oldpuppymax

Yes I agree, why didn’t Kyle go back in time and kill Hitler? Actually he could have pleased liberals as well by forcing Hitlers mother have an abortion, but then on the other hand all those Jews wouldn’t have been killed which would have also displeased them.


31 posted on 01/18/2015 8:53:55 AM PST by GrandJediMasterYoda (Obama: 7 acts of blatant treason and counting.)
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To: Oldpuppymax

Great movie saw it last night


32 posted on 01/18/2015 8:53:59 AM PST by italianquaker
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To: rabidralph

“There is no scene of the bad sniper with his family”

Wasn’t there one where he is eating with them and is alerted, then grabs his rifle and moves into position?


33 posted on 01/18/2015 8:54:57 AM PST by CrazyIvan (I lost my phased plasma rifle in a tragic hovercraft accident.)
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To: Oldpuppymax

The article says more about the attention seeking (oh, I’m SUCH a contrarian) Michael D. Shaw who patched together this hit piece than it does about Chris Kyle. The “valiant” Michael Shaw is demonstrating his jealousy and shortcomings...and nothing more. I’m sure Jesse Ventura loves Shaw.


34 posted on 01/18/2015 8:55:16 AM PST by House Atreides
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To: Oldpuppymax
I seem to remember a film about the civil war in Yugoslavia....where an effective sniper was tracked back to his home and killed in his back yard by another sniper.
35 posted on 01/18/2015 8:57:10 AM PST by spokeshave (He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people,)
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To: Cry if I Wanna

The movie is really a good war flick. A lot of license was taken from the autobiography. If you look at it in that light you won’t be disappointmed.


36 posted on 01/18/2015 8:58:29 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: RedStateRocker
In Iraq I'm pretty sure we would have been quite happy to have blown up a building that Saddam was in.

The opened the war with an airstrike on the building they thought he was in. In fact, the war started slightly ahead of schedule because they thought they knew right where he was and tried to take him out.

37 posted on 01/18/2015 8:59:50 AM PST by marron
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To: waterhill

Don’t give up. People act like jerks and numbskulls popup occasionally.


38 posted on 01/18/2015 9:00:53 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: Oldpuppymax

Coach is an @$$#01e.


39 posted on 01/18/2015 9:02:21 AM PST by OKSooner
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To: Oldpuppymax
Why do we have Marquess of Queensberry rules that seem to prohibit killing the very leaders

The writer seems to have forgotten the "playing cards" during the Iraq war, the list of "high-value targets" we were going after. And he seems not to have noticed that taking out leaders is what the drone strikes do.

Actually, the writer seems to be a bit dim.

40 posted on 01/18/2015 9:02:23 AM PST by marron
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