William Tell
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- Jan 3, 2014
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Chuck Baldwin: My Thoughts On The Movie "American Sniper."
As with millions of other Americans, I went to see the hugely popular Clint Eastwood-directed movie, "American Sniper." Here are some of my thoughts:
No one, at least not me, doubts the patriotism, courage, and sacrifice of our nation's military personnel--especially our combat forces. I certainly do not share Michael Moore's opinion that Chris Kyle (and our snipers in general) was a coward. Snipers have been effective in helping to wage America's wars since our War for Independence. In lawful combat, snipers are as needful as any other specialized fighting man.
My issue is not with Chris Kyle, or with any other American fighting man. My issue is with the justness of the war Chris Kyle was ordered to fight. Yes, I realize that we have an all-volunteer army; but let's be honest enough to admit that the vast majority of our young people joining the U.S. military sincerely believe that they are doing their patriotic duty by volunteering to conduct war against America's "enemies." They learn nothing else from family, school, movies and television, and church. The singular message they hear is that everything the U.S. military does is right and righteous and that every military engagement we fight is just and justified. I'm sure Chris Kyle was no different.
However, at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, after watching the real-life military exploits of Chris Kyle on the Big Screen, I left the theater extremely angry.
In the first place, Saddam Hussein and the country of Iraq had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9/11. G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney unabashedly lied to the American people about the necessity of America invading Iraq. We invaded Iraq under false pretenses; we occupied Iraq under false pretenses; and we took (and lost) thousands of lives under false pretenses.
Secondly, as I watched the depiction of U.S. Marines going house-to-house and kicking down doors, manhandling old men, women, and children, it occurred to me that these exact same tactics are now being employed by American police agencies against the people of the United States. Our so-called SWAT teams are nothing more than occupying military units. The strategies, philosophies, and tactics are exactly the same as soldiers in a war zone.
Thirdly, everyone, ask yourself these questions, what if instead of the place being Fallujah, Iraq, the place was Kansas City, Missouri? Instead of the invasion force being the U.S. military, it was military troops from Communist China or Russia? What if the occupying snipers were killing American women and children instead of Iraqi women and children? Would we still consider them "heroes?" And would we act any differently from the Iraqi people who were trying to defend their homes and communities against an occupying foreign power?
When I left the theater, I was not angry with Chris Kyle, who was apparently the best at what he did, I was angry with the politicians in Washington, D.C., who sent Chris Kyle into an unjust and undeclared war to wage war against people who posed NO imminent threat to the United States.
I am also angry with an American culture that seems to lack the discernment to recognize the difference between just and unjust war. I am further angered by ubiquitous U.S. propaganda against the Muslim people in general (especially by my Christian brethren).
It seems that hardly anyone recognizes that the power-elite are engaged in global conspiracy to pit the Muslim nations of the Middle East against the West and vice-versa. Our own CIA has been manipulating the internal affairs of the Middle Eastern states for decades. The CIA put Saddam Hussein in power. Where do you think those brand new hundred-dollar bills (in the amount of millions of dollars) stored between the walls of Hussein's house, wrapped in Bank of America wrappers, came from?
The CIA put Osama bin Laden in power. The CIA put ISIS in power. And dare we talk about the illegal drug-running operations that have been conducted by the CIA in both Middle Eastern and Far Eastern nations for at least a half-century?
I am angry with a federal government that cares absolutely nothing about our brave U.S. military personnel. They send them to fight unjust wars only then to treat them like second-class citizens in our VA hospitals. If DC truly cared about our military personnel, they would never ask them to risk life and limb except for those times that are truly necessary for the safety and security of the United States.
America has NO RIGHT to proclaim itself to be the world's policeman. It has NO RIGHT to send U.S. fighting men to vindicate the policies and prejudices of the United Nations. The President of the U.S. has NO RIGHT to invade and occupy foreign countries without a Declaration of War by Congress.
I am angry because in the name of fighting the War on Terror around the world, the American people are quickly losing the liberties guaranteed in our Constitution's Bill of Rights. And out of a misguided spirit of patriotism, the majority of the American people seem fine with it.
I am angry because our brave military troops are being asked to give their arms and legs and families and lives for the selfish, parochial, political, and economic interests of the ruling elite--and are also asked to take the lives of thousands of innocents in the process.
If you ask me, Chris Kyle was the victim of a sadistic and out-of-control federal leviathan that respects nothing. Not the rule of law. Not liberty--at home or abroad. Not family--our own military families or the families of other nations. Not constitutional government. Not national borders--our own or anyone else's. And certainly not the sacredness of life.
Yes, I left the movie "American Sniper" angry.
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