EASTWOOD FILM ABOUT AMERICAN SNIPER SHORT ON FACTS

("Texas Governor Greg Abbott is honoring Chris Kyle--the real life character played in the movie 'American Sniper' – by naming a day in his honor.
Abbott made the announcement at a Texas Veterans' Convention Friday. Chris Kyle was a Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 people during five combat tours in Iraq. Kyle is originally from Odessa.
Governor Greg Abbott said, 'A man who defended his brothers and sisters in arms both... on and off the battlefield. I am declaring this Monday, February 2nd as Chris Kyle Day in Texas.'
Kyle was killed in February 2013 at a gun range. A 25 year old Marine Corps veteran faces charges in his death.")

By Zaid Jilani

ALTERNET
As controversy rages over American Sniper, many supporters of the movie have suggested that it’s apolitical and shouldn’t be construed as supportive of war or bigotry; that it’s merely a character study of a tortured soldier.
The problem with that analysis is that the film isn’t focused on a group of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or the difficulties with being reacquainted with civilian life, or the inadequacies of the Veterans Administration.

The movie is about Chris Kyle, a remorseless sniper who said his job was “fun” and wished he could return to Iraq to fight even more, and who made millions of dollars and gained worldwide fame writing about his exploits. If anything, Kyle is the absolute worst soldier one could pick to talk about soldiers coming home and our need to take care of them. The way he wrote and talked about his time in Iraq, one would think the war was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Filmmaker Clint Eastwood has responded to critics by noting he was against going to war in Iraq, and was skeptical of the war in Afghanistan as well. This doesn’t explain why Eastwood chose to base his film on a soldier who viewed the war as both just and enjoyable, and it doesn’t excuse him rendering the Iraqi characters of the film into mere props, either helpless civilians or evil terrorists.
Nor does it justify Eastwood’s use of 9/11 in the film to imply that invading Iraq was revenge for terrorist attacks, which is a bastardization of history that has been used by war proponents. If Eastwood does consider himself a war critic, it appears he threw out his own principles in order to make a film that wouldn’t ask its viewers any challenging questions about the war.
Whatever Eastwood’s intent, the most damning indictment comes from how the film is being received. Critics of American Sniper‘s portrayal of Chris Kyle have received a torrent of death threats, even calls for decapitation, and the film has spawned an outpouring of anti-Muslim bigotry on social media... He made millions of dollars writing about his time in the military, and was eager to go back. He was a star featured by Conan O,Brien and the mega-church talk circuit. Although his family promised to donate book royalties to veterans organizations, only two percent ever actually made it to veterans. Kyle manufactured tall tales of shooting down carjackers in Texas and looters in Katrina, none of which was held against him, despite the fact that armed vigilantism is illegal.

"SEVEN HEINOUS LIES "AMERICAN SNIPER SIS TELLING AMERICA"

The film American Sniper, based on the story of the late Navy Seal Chris Kyle, is a box office hit, setting records for an R-rated film released in January. Yet the film, the autobiography of the same name, and the reputation of Chris Kyle are all built on a set of half-truths, myths and outright lies that Hollywood didn’t see fit to clear up.

Here are seven lies about Chris Kyle and the story that director Clint Eastwood is telling:

1. The Film Suggests the Iraq War Was In Response To 9/11: One way to get audiences to unambiguously support Kyle’s actions in the film is to believe he’s there to avenge the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The movie cuts from Kyle watching footage of the attacks to him serving in Iraq, implying there is some link between the two.

2. The Film Invents a Terrorist Sniper Who Works For Multiple Opposing Factions: Kyle’s primary antagonist in the film is a sniper named Mustafa. Mustafa nis mentioned in a single paragraph in Kyle’s book, but the movie blows him up into an ever-present figure and Syrian Olympic medal winner who fights for both Sunni insurgents in Fallujah and the Shia Madhi army.

3. The Film Portrays Chris Kyle as Tormented By His Actions: Multiple scenes in the movie portray Kyle as haunted by his service. One of the film’s earliest reviews praised it for showing the “emotional torment of so many military men and women.” But that torment is completely absent from the book the film is based on. In the book, Kyle refers to everyone he fought as “savage, despicable” evil. He writes, “I only wish I had killed more.” He also writes, “I loved what I did. I still do. If circumstances were different – if my family didn’t need me – I’d be back in a heartbeat. I’m not lying or exaggerating to say it was fun. I had the time of my life being a SEAL.” On an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show he laughs about accidentally shooting an Iraqi insurgent. He once told a military investigator that he doesn’t “shoot people with Korans. I’d like to, but I don’t.”

4. The Real Chris Kyle Made Up A Story About Killing Dozens of People In Post-Katrina New Orleans: Kyle claimed that he killed 30 people in the chaos of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, a story Louisiana writer Jarvis DeBerry calls "preposterous." It shows the sort of mentality post-war Kyle had, but the claim doesn’t appear in the film.

5. The Real Chris Kyle Fabricated A Story About Killing Two Men Who Tried To Carjack Him In Texas: Kyle told numerous people a story about killing two alleged carjackers in Texas. Reporters tried repeatedly to verify this claim, but no evidence of it exists.

6. Chris Kyle Was Successfully Sued For Lying About the Former Governor of Minnesota: Kyle alleged that former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura defamed Navy SEALs and got into a fight with him at a local bar. Ventura successfully sued Kyle for the passage in his book, and a jury awarded him $1.845 million.

7. Chris Kyle’s Family Claimed He Donated His Book Proceeds To Veterans’ Charity, But He Kept Most Of The Profits: The National Review debunks the claim that all proceeds of his book went to veterans’ charities. Around 2 percent – $52,000 – went to the charities while the Kyles pocketed $3 million.

Although the movie is an initial box office hit, there is a growing backlash against its simplistic portrayal of the war and misleading take on Kyle’s character. This backlash has reportedly spread among members of the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences, which could threaten the film’s shot at racking up Oscars.