I had some vague, false impression that this film might show some measure of compassion towards the Iraqi people, not simply portraying them as the 'terrorists' and 'insurgents' (/'freedom fighters') that the media directs our perception towards, but this was quickly dismissed.
The movie begins with the Islamic call to prayer, which introduces us to a rooftop in an Iraqi city where we find our hero, the 'American sniper' looking through his sniper scope to spot dangers in the streets ahead of the patrol on the ground. The troops are told that the city has been 'evacuated', which would probably mean that American planes dropped leaflets over the city that said something to the effect of 'get out or die', after they dropped a few thousand tonnes of bombs and nuclear waste warheads, like you do. Since the city has been evacuated they are told to treat any male of military age as a 'foreign combatant'.
After watching a man on a rooftop talking into a mobile phone while observing the troops, our American Hero spots a woman and a young boy walking out of a doorway and into the middle of the street in front of the patrol. In full view of the troops ahead, but somehow only seen by American Hero, the woman hands the young boy a rocket propelled grenade, whispers something to him, whereupon he begins a childishly slow and wobbly run forward with the RPG in his arms.
Our hero has already reported what he saw on the radio, but no-one can corroborate what he has seen. He is told that it is his call. He has a child in the crosshairs of his sniper-scope. He breathes. He holds his breath. The audience holds their breath. The boy takes his last...
CUT!
Cue the all-American dream! The film is halted as a young boy is about to be shot through the heart by a sniper of an invading army, not for the young boy's short life to flash before his eyes, but to learn of the sniper's admirable Christian upbringing in some small town in Texas. We see him attending church with his family, cheekily pocketing a small bible which we later find he keeps with him always. Our American Hero is a young lad not much older than the one he was about to shoot. His dad is teaching him to hunt deer. We see him fighting to defend his younger brother when he is being bullied. His dad teaches them to never be a sheep, never be a wolf, to do what is right: 'these are the good guys'.
American Hero is older now, riding bronco in the rodeo and winning, his younger brother cheering him on in support. They call themselves 'Cowboys', 'living the dream'. American Hero comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man, turning them both out. But no worry, he soon meets a lovely young lady at a bar, who downs whisky to impress him before throwing it up outside, while he holds her hair back like a true gentleman. A relationship ensues.
We have all but forgotten about the little terrorist with the RPG, and are fully convinced of how lovely a guy AH is. He could shoot me in the face and I'd forgive him at this stage. At this point AH sees a terrorist bombing of a US embassy on the TV. His angry face is a little comical. It reminds me of my father holding me up to a mirror when I was having a strop as a child, to show me how silly I looked. It always got me laughing. A bit of sob later and 9/11 is on the TV (an event completely unconnected to Iraq in any way - more evidence points at George Bush and Dick Cheney as being complicit than Saddam Hussein or any other Iraqi). That is the last straw. We leave AH's amusing angry face to find him in the recruitment office, and he quickly finds himself in Navy SEAL training, excelling at shooting. The scene is set. Our American Hero context is in place. We can now safely watch him shoot foreign children in the knowledge that he was raised in a good Christian family with best principles at heart.
BANG! A bullet tears through the chest of the young boy and he falls to the ground, dropping the RPG. There is no cut scene to show the story of his life. Maybe his entire family is dead, killed by American bombs, but we aren't concerned with that. We are concerned with the justification of his death and the justifications of hundreds of thousands of others' deaths. We achieve this justification by showing you how the grown men killing them are good people really, and that they have no choice in the matter.
The woman runs forward to pick up the RPG, to throw it at the patrol of American Heroes. AH gets a round off just in the nick of time, as she manages to throw the grenade, but not quite far enough to cause damage to the other American Heroes. I feel like our hero has learnt a lesson here - shoot first, ask questions later. We are shown poor AH's remorse at having to shoot a child. Poor AH.
I didn't watch much more of the film. As I think of our American Hero, bible in pocket, the young boy and the soldier patrol, I think of Ezekiel 25:17 - American Hero is shown as the blessed; 'in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness'. Our American hero, shooting a young boy in what may well be the street he was raised, is portrayed as the shepherd in this, guiding the poor weak American troops through the valley, protecting them from the tyranny of this little boy. But, as Samuel L Jackson put it at the end of that film we all know and love, "that shit ain't the truth. The truth is, you're the weak, and I am the tyranny of evil men."
This film is an abomination, a shameless blood stain of war propaganda made with one thing in mind - to glorify and validate the most atrocious of wartime actions. We have seen and heard the contempt with which many soldiers take life. We have seen soldiers make t-shirts with pregnant women in crosshairs. War is rape and torture, murder and misery. This film seeks to whitewash all that we abhor about war and portray it as a holy act of love. It is sick. It is inhuman, immoral, flying in the face of everything we hold decent. It is an evil attack on our hearts and minds, and should be condemned as a revolting assault upon everything good in humanity.
That's all for now.
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