While American Libs Simpered About “Racist” American Sniper, Iraqis Flocked To The Theater To Watch It

Left-wingers continue to seethe about the success of the record-breaking blockbuster American Sniper. Not content to see it as a compelling story about a soldier who was damn good at his job, and struggled to reintegrate when he came home, they see it as an opportunity to bloviate against the Iraq war and the type of people who served in it.

In short, it has allowed the “pro-military” mask to slip off of their simpering, insincere faces, because they are anything but. They’ve proved it with their dishonest criticisms of Chris Kyle who they continue to insult with willful distortions.

No, Kyle did not call all Iraqis “savages.” And the fact that the movie sold out in Baghdad theaters when it was released, suggests that most Iraqis don’t think he did, either.

But some NBC idiot went on Morning Joe Thursday morning to perpetuate that false narrative about The American Sniper,  going so far as to say that Kyle was a “racist” who went on “killing sprees.”

Ayman Mohyeldin is an NBC foreign correspondent who formerly worked for Al Jazeera (which like the Obama administration refuses to link Islamic terrorism to Islam.)

To Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist’s credit, they pushed back against his slander.

 

Via Newsbusters:

More to Willie Geist’s point, Kyle was calling people like the sadistic animal who tortured people with an electric screwdriver, savages.

What do you call people who don’t know the difference between the brutal terrorists and normal Iraqi civilians — other than morally confused apologists for terrorism?

Meanwhile, American Sniper debuted to sold-out theaters in Baghdad when it was released in Iraq.

It seems, Iraqis didn’t find the movie as morally ambiguous as left-wing critics did:

“When [Chris Kyle] was hesitating to shoot [the child holding the RPG] everyone [in the theater] was yelling ‘Just shoot him!’” said Gaith Mohammed, an Iraqi in his 20s interviewed by the Global Post.

“Some people watching were just concentrating, but others were screaming ‘F*ck, shoot him! He has an IED, don’t wait for permission!!’” Mohammed laughed, recounting the film’s many tense scenes when US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, radios in for authorization to take out a potential threat in his crosshairs.

The Global Post reporter asked Mohammed if he thought the movie was “racist or anti-Arab,” and his answer is telling:

“No, why? The sniper was killing terrorists! The only thing that bothered me was when he said he didn’t know anything about the Quran!”

The 20-something Mohammed sheds light on why the movie might be so popular: “I love watching war movies because, especially now, they give me the strength to face ISIS.”

Mohammed’s answer reminds me of what former Air Force Major Mike Banzet wrote in his  book, A Flowershop in Baghdad, which I reviewed here.

Some of the Iraqis he worked with, had been members of the Ba’ath party during the Saddam Hussein years and were officers in his Air Force. His new friends had fought against us during the Gulf War – not that they were fans of Saddam Hussein, or sorry to see him go.. Others lived in areas that were sometimes mortared by the Americans. There were near misses, and sometimes houses blown up. Yes, the Americans occasionally made mistakes.

In spite of all that – what do you suppose the Iraqis called the  “American imperialist warmongers”?

“The Friendly side.”

The not-so-friendly sides included horrific terrorist groups like al Qaeda in Iraq (the pre-curser to ISIS) and militants like the Badr Brigades. Most Iraqis wanted nothing to do with the terrorists. They were glad the Americans were there to protect them.

In one very effecting vignette, Banzet described a day he went to work and found the office in a state of panicked chaos.

“Most of the guys were on their phones, urgently talking,” Banzet remembers. Worry creased their faces as they talked to loved ones at home. He asked what was going on and was told, “there are bad things happening in the neighborhoods.”

Asad had gotten off the phone, but Wahid was still calmly, forcefully directing someone. Asad looked at me, pain in his eyes, anguish on his face, and his English eloquence failed him. “They took someone and now Nassera says that she hears guns coming down the street.

Some men had broken into a home and abducted the cousin of the owner. Banzet left the office to brief an American intel officer about what was happening, and see if he had any ideas. When he got back to the office – the room was noticeably calmer. It turns out, hummers were involved. That ruled out some of the more barbaric terrorists. But one of the Shia militant brigades was known to use hummers, so there was still a great deal of concern, and Banzet went back to talk to the intel guy. When he returned the third time, he said it was like walking into an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The guys were back at work, typing on the computers, drinking tea, and chatting.

The completely bewildered Banzet asked Assad what was going on.

“I’m sorry my friend. It was the Americans,” he grinned, clapping Banzet on the shoulder and returning  to his work.

The Mansour Mall, an upscale theater in Baghdad, pulled the movie a week after its release, allegedly “because the hero of this film boasts of killing more than 160 Muslims.”

It was more likely out of fear of reprisals from the ISIS terrorists who have taken over large swaths of Iraq since Obama pulled out all of the US troops.