Former Marine on Chris Kyle, American Sniper, and Social Implications

[kpete]

Former Marine on Chris Kyle, American Sniper, and Social Implications
Posted on January 27, 2015 by Robert Barsocchini

Ross Caputi, a former marine who participated in the US’s second siege of Fallujah, writes that the reason the American Sniper book and film have been so successful is that they “tell us exactly what we want to hear”: that US America is “benevolent” and “righteous”. That, he says, is why the book and film are so popular; their popularity speaks volumes about US society, and signals more danger ahead for the rest of the world.



The killings for which Chris Kyle is idolized, Caputi notes, were perpetrated during his participation in the second US siege of Fallujah, which Caputi, from firsthand knowledge, calls an “atrocity”.

Specifically of the siege, Caputi notes:

“All military aged males were forced to stay within the city limits of Fallujah” (while women and children were warned to flee through the desert on foot)

“…an estimated 50,000 civilians were trapped in (Fallujah) during this month long siege without water” (since the US had cut off water and electricity to the city)

“…almost no effort was taken to make a distinction between civilian men and combatants. In fact, in many instances civilians and combatants were deliberately conflated.”

“The US did not treat military action (against Fallujah) as a last resort. The peace negotiations with the leadership in Fallujah were canceled by the US.”

“(The US) killed between 4,000 to 6,000 civilians, displaced 200,000, and may have created an epidemic of birth defects and cancers“

“(The siege was) conducted with indiscriminate tactics and weapons, like the use of reconnaissance-by-fire, white phosphorous, and the bombing of residential neighborhoods. The main hospital was also treated as a military target.”

.........

The US invasion of Iraq, Caputi concludes, was “the imposition of a political and economic project against the will of the majority of Iraqis. … We had no right to invade a sovereign nation, occupy it against the will of the majority of its citizens, and patrol their streets.”


MORE (Plus Links to all the points above):
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/01/former-marine-chris-kyle-american-sniper-social-implications.html

[Hoyt]

1. Takes guts. Wish we had more like him in today's military. Too many Kyles.

[Vattel]

2. I recommend seeing Caputi's documentary. I don't agree with everything in it

but it is definitely worth seeing.

[BeanMusical]

3. Kick and R.

[dissentient]

4. I consider a marine like this the true American hero, Kyle is nothing but a killer and braggart

[JonLP24]

5. I posted in great detail all the indiscriminate killing going on in Fallujah and a major one

was from snipers where witnesses from backgrounds ranging from residents, to US humanitarian aid workers, to journalists from Iraq, US, and Europe describing people were afraid to even look at the windows out of fear of being picked off and people were being picked off randomly. The US aid worker said his colleague's vehicle was hit with 5 sniper rounds on his way out trying to transport a patient to a hospital. Chris Kyle just happened to be there with a sniper fact & there are also other supporting facts that implicate him more, including his own ROE quote as he understood it.

I'm so glad he makes this point.

[Bonobo]

6. American atrocities

The use of phosphorus grenades was just one of them.

[progressoid]

7. Rec.

[BrotherIvan]

8. What he is describing are WAR CRIMES

And the rest of the world should send in investigators. These commanders should not be allowed to commit war crimes.

[JonLP24]

12. Already been there, done that as far as an investigation

Here is a collection of sources, interviews, witnesses, etc that detail just the indiscriminate killing from snipers alone

Many families were stuck there with few supplies because US soldiers would not allow them to leave, she said. “Even during a so-called ceasefire, Fallujah was under siege with bombing, missiles and mortar attacks […] But the worst form of attack was the US snipers hiding on rooftops who kill hundreds of civilians as they tried to move about the city” (Australian Associated Press, 16 April 2004)
https://ceinquiry.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/chris-kyle-snipers/

[peace13]

9. White phosphorus ....and no one blinks an eye.

I think it is pretty much a fact that the birth defects there have been pretty awful. I'm surprised that our own soldiers families don't have the problem. Maybe we push that under the rug as well. This whole article made me sick to read and I have been aware of the facts for years. Those who can ignore the horrors of this illegal of war are the nightmare of our society now!

[FairWinds]

10. During the Second Battle of Fallujah (2004) . .

all of those incidents Caputi describes were known at the time.
The question is, where were the US news media?
And more to the point, where were YOU??

[Unknown Beatle]

11. The US not only used white phosphorous,

they also used cluster bombs and depleted uranium on innocent civilians.

[Cha]

13. Damn right we didn't.. it was an atrocity committed by war criminals/AKA/bush-cheney.

[mmonk]

14. They were praising this movie on the View.

All I could remember concerning this episode in history is people who were on fire from white phosphorous and others trying to put the fire out by water (which made the fire worse).

[JEB]

15. All war criminals claim to have justification for their crimes.

What we (the USA) did at Fallujah more heinous than My Lai. This country is stumbling through the darkness.

[Martin Eden]

16. I like the comments section with the lunatic "sam" n/t

[seveneyes]

17. Until the Hounds of Love are hot on our trails

We will keep those at bay who want us dead.