7 Big Lies 'American Sniper' Is Telling America

There is a backlash against the film's misleading take on sniper Chris Kyle's character.

By Zaid Jilani / AlterNet

January 21, 2015

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 is 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.

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Comment by Less Prone on January 25, 2015 at 9:43pm: Nikki,

I share the same dissappointment about Clint Eastwood with you, he's on the side of the criminal cabal wittingly or not. But what can you expect? Most of the Hollywood is owned by them.

Comment by Nikki on January 25, 2015 at 9:23pm: Justice for Jesse

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/384176/justice-jesse-ventura-...

Comment by Nikki on January 25, 2015 at 8:49pm: I'm disappointed in Eastwood too. I thought he was above this propaganda.

Comment by Kim Smith on January 25, 2015 at 7:33pm: Typical racist propaganda from the Nazi Zionist Jews, designed to inflame the ignorant Lazy-Boy Generals who choose to not become educated in the fact that their sons are being led to the slaughter for the profit of Nazi Israel. Our "freedom", "safety" and "national security" are not what they are fighting for. Very disappointed that Clint Eastwood would produce such racist trash that incites visions of violence and genocide among the purposely uneducated.

Comment by Old Denmark on January 25, 2015 at 4:20pm: Have not seen it but sounds just like another Rambo movie to me. Not surprised at all.

Comment by Old Denmark on January 25, 2015 at 4:18pm: ‘American Sniper’ Review: War Plays Out Like a Video Game in Clint Eastwood’s Navy SEAL Biopic

MOVIES | By Inkoo Kang on November 11, 2014 @ 11:30 pm

http://www.thewrap.com/american-sniper-review-bradley-cooper-clint-...

Comment by Nikki on January 25, 2015 at 3:27pm: Another article said that people left the theater wanting to kill Muslims and Arabs. This is the reaction they were hoping for and probably why it was released right after Charlie Hebdo.

Jesse Ventura won his case against the estate of Chris Kyle for defamation. And Ventura was then made to look like the bad guy, oh please!!!

Apparently, Kyle is not the only sniper in the family.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/01/23/chris-kyles-widow...

Comment by Old Denmark on January 25, 2015 at 12:39pm: Well like all other BS coming out of there.....it's all about manipulation and distorted truths to maintain control. It's easy to feed people this stuff when the majority only knows what they been shown on TV, heard on the radio or read in newspapers. We are so screwed.

Comment by Anti Everything on January 25, 2015 at 8:24am: It is a sad state of affairs when lying is mandatory to 'succeed'. I find it even worse when murder is glorified and a society condones that terror[ism]. Its a sign the 'system controllers' owns all the hotels on the monopoly board.