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Title: Military's deadliest sniper killed on gun range of resort near Glen Rose
Source:
Ft. Worth Star Telegram
URL Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/0 ... s-deadliest-sniper-killed.html
Published: Feb 3, 2013
Author: By Barry Schlachter
Post Date: 2013-02-03 01:38:49 by scrapper2
Keywords: Chris Kyle murdered, author of "American Sniper"
Views: 439
Comments: 52
Chris Kyle, a retired Navy SEAL and the U.S. military's most lethal sniper, was fatally shot Saturday along with another man on the gun range of Rough Creek Lodge, a posh resort just west of Glen Rose, Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said. A suspect was arrested about five hours later in Lancaster, southeast of Dallas, more than 70 miles from the scene, Bryant said. The suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was pursued to a house in Lancaster by officers, including a local SWAT team. Routh tried to flee in a vehicle but was stopped about 9 p.m. after spikes were laid across a road, Bryant said. "The suspect has been caught and is in custody in Lancaster," he said. Erath County sheriff's investigators and Texas Rangers were securing a capital murder warrant, he said. Witnesses told sheriff's investigators that the gunman opened fire on the two men around 3:30 p.m., then fled in a pickup belonging to one of the victims. The Sheriff's Department didn't get a call until around 6 p.m. Rough Creek Lodge is 77 miles southwest of Fort Worth between Glen Rose and Hico. The motive for the shootings remains unclear, Bryant said. "Not a clue, absolutely no idea." WFAA/Channel 8 quoted unnamed sources as saying that Kyle, who lived in Midlothian, and a neighbor had taken Routh on an outing to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Routh turned on the men and shot them in the back, the report said. The sheriff said he could not confirm how the victims were shot. In January 2012, the Cleburne Times-Review reported that Routh, of Lancaster, was arrested in Johnson County on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Public records show that Routh previously lived in Camp LeJeune, N.C., a major Marine base. Kyle, 38, who is survived by a wife and two children, was the author of American Sniper, a 2012 autobiography. A 1992 graduate of Midlothian High School, he attended Tarleton State University. He tried to join the Navy in 1996 but was rejected after a physical exam revealed pins in his arm from a rodeo injury. Three years later, Kyle was working on a ranch in Colorado when a Navy recruiter called. He was trained as a sniper and served 10 years. He never disclosed exactly how many enemy combatants he shot, but the Pentagon certified more than 150 of his kills during four tours in Iraq. Some news reports credited him with up to 255. His confirmed kills exceeded the exploits of legendary Marine Carlos Hathcock, whom Kyle called "the best sniper in the world." Hathcock had 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. In all, Kyle was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. "I don't care about the medals," Kyle told the Star-Telegram in a 2012 interview. "I didn't do it for the money or the awards. I did it because I felt like it was something that needed to be done and it was honorable. I loved the guys." A member of SEAL Team 3, Kyle picked off his targets from rooftops or windows of abandoned buildings during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which toppled Saddam Hussein. Primarily serving as a sniper and wounded twice, he provided "overwatch" protection for Marines and other U.S. troops and earned a reputation for his proficiency. Most shots ranged from 200 to 1,200 yards. His longest and most remarkable kill -- from 1.2 miles away -- took out an insurgent aiming a rocket launcher at an approaching Army convoy. During the second battle of Fallujah, Kyle said, he killed about 40 insurgents. He shot several through an apartment window while lying atop an overturned baby crib. From a second-story perch in Ramadi, Kyle spotted two men approaching on a motor scooter. As it slowed, the rider in back dropped a backpack into a pothole, setting an improvised explosive device. As the scooter sped up, Kyle fired once from about 200 yards, taking aim at "center mass," the middle of the body. "Like a laser," he said of his .300 Winchester Magnum. With the men still seated upright, the scooter wobbled, veered and crashed into a wall. "Bullet went through both of them," Kyle said. "The taxpayer got good bang for his buck on that one," he wrote. According to Army intelligence, he said, Iraqi insurgents nicknamed him al-Shaitan Ramad -- "the Devil of Ramadi." After the service, Kyle became president of Craft International, a Dallas firm that provided military and law enforcement sniper training as well as private security. The deadliest sniper in U.S. military history was scheduled to speak Feb. 27 at Tarrant County College Northwest Campus in Fort Worth. The four-hour presentation, "Preparing a Warrior's Heart," was to cover having the "mindset" for survival, being prepared for a fight and "being OK in the aftermath." Kyle wrote in American Sniper that he had zero remorse for his combat kills. Every person he shot, he said, was trying to harm Americans or Iraqis loyal to the new government. As the son of a deacon, as a husband and as a protective father of two young children, Kyle wrote, "I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job." Poster Comment: "WFAA/Channel 8 quoted unnamed sources as saying that Kyle, who lived in Midlothian, and a neighbor had taken Routh on an outing to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Routh turned on the men and shot them in the back, the report said." No good deed goes unpunished.
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#12. To: Hmmmmm (#11)
Yeah - the pricing was posh enough all right.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken The service charge was what really gakked me.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken wouldn't it though? (that made me laugh) On Sunday the 27th CBS ran a show "Let's Give Up on the Constitution" hosted by Jewish Profession Michael Seidman. He said the Constitution is out of date and should largely be discarded. Get it? It's out of date, and we need to substitute Marxism. You've got to convince the sheeple that we need to get rid of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Most of this has been done already, and the Second Amendment is the next to go. There was no rebuttal of course.~Roger Mason
agreed. On Sunday the 27th CBS ran a show "Let's Give Up on the Constitution" hosted by Jewish Profession Michael Seidman. He said the Constitution is out of date and should largely be discarded. Get it? It's out of date, and we need to substitute Marxism. You've got to convince the sheeple that we need to get rid of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Most of this has been done already, and the Second Amendment is the next to go. There was no rebuttal of course.~Roger Mason
Yeah, but it's the after activities that are killer ! We should all be livid. Stop acting like docile, mentally castrated pussies and grow a pair. It's time to get in their face. Why should we speak in hushed tones and act all polite when we are being raped every day?
Rastas: "Rufas, wat I don get is wat de hell is dis service charge?" Rufas: "Why you dummy, it say rite cher de service charge be 21%." “Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele “The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb “I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
Maybe he paid the moving target fee. “Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele “The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb “I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
Yes, or as my good buddy Loddy would say, "Amen." Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner. Wow! You guys are a tough crowd. No one feels even a teeny tiny bit of sadness that this guy was murdered by and while he was trying to help a fellow military person deal with PTSD?
No remorse. This dude was murdering people that were trying to defend their homes, country, not unlike the police & military will do to us when given the orders. I think this is called karma. Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner. The PTSD-diagnosed perp was no doubt on SSRI's and had been reduced to being a sofa-bound pill-popper who had picked up a nasty booze habit (at least one DWI). He was NOT a candidate for gun-range therapy, he was a candidate for being run through an obstacle course for about two months to rid his body of the pernicious influence of the SSRI's he was on.
#13. To: Hmmmmm (#11)
#14. To: Esso (#2)
Be interesting to sit in on his discussion with God about that whole "Thou shalt not kill" thingy.
#15. To: Bub (#7)
Ironic and sad that the sniper was too dumb to understand that the Iraqis are responding to foreign invaders, are defending their own territory, behaving exactly as would the sniper if the situation were reversed. He died dumb.
#16. To: Lod (#12)
Yeah - the pricing was posh enough all right.
#17. To: Lod (#13)
The service charge was what really gakked me.
#18. To: noone222 (#16)
Yeah, but it's the after activities that are killer !
#19. To: Bub, Lod, 4um (#7)
Ironic and sad that the sniper was too dumb to understand that the Iraqis are responding to foreign invaders, are defending their own territory, behaving exactly as would the sniper if the situation were reversed. He died dumb.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#20. To: All (#0)
#21. To: scrapper2 (#20)
No one feels even a teeny tiny bit of sadness that this guy was murdered by and while he was trying to help a fellow military person deal with PTSD?
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#22. To: scrapper2, All (#20)
-Alex Kurtagic
#23. To: X-15 (#22)
Good point! The PTSD-diagnosed perp was no doubt on SSRI's and had been reduced to being a sofa-bound pill-popper who had picked up a nasty booze habit (at least one DWI). He was NOT a candidate for gun-range therapy
#24. To: scrapper2 (#20)
We're all just tired of the endless ziobanker/corporatist war, and the gutless CONgress that continues to fund these crimes. As Ron Paul told us, over and over, there will be blowback from our actions; both there and here.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#25. To: scrapper2 (#20)
Alive, Kyle was a "Hero", a role model, a mentor, teacher, recruiter, nurturing the next generation of killers we spew into the world. Marketing himself by his number of kills, proudly proclaiming he had nothing to fear from God. I personally don't care whether it was greed, desperation, or ignorance that made them sign on the dotted line. Was Murder Inc. treated with respect? How about the crips, bloods, or MS13? The best treatment they should get by an informed moral population is shunned. We no longer have one. No one feels even a teeny tiny bit of sadness that this guy was murdered by and while he was trying to help a fellow military person deal with PTSD?
“Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele
“The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb
“I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
#26. To: Hmmmmm (#25)
We no longer have one. [Well said]. The best treatment they should get by an informed moral population is shunned. We no longer have one.
We should all be livid. Stop acting like docile, mentally castrated pussies and grow a pair. It's time to get in their face. Why should we speak in hushed tones and act all polite when we are being raped every day?
#27. To: Hmmmmm (#25)
I could anticipate why folks - myself included - being anti useless wars would not regret the passing of war decision makers or of war profiteers. I was a bit surprised tho that on this thread all posters were so uniformly negative to a "war hero" soldier's passing who was trying to help another soldier to get out of his depression with 3-some outing. I understand the reasoning but nonetheless I was surprised to read the 100% agreement.
#28. To: scrapper2 (#27)
We're coming from an unlawful war/unlawful order point of view. Not that we're happy to see anyone die, it's just that blowback/karma are real and do happen. We believe that this was a good example of it.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#29. To: Esso (#21)
as a veteran with medals from both bush wars I must concur with your assessment.
I used to be in a hurry, then I figured out I was just getting nowhere fast.
#30. To: scrapper2 (#0) (Edited)
Sounds like some accomplices had the gunman's back so he could try and escape. Seems all that's ok as long as he thought he was being a sniper doing right too. Edited for highlighting. Witnesses told sheriff's investigators that the gunman opened fire on the two men around 3:30 p.m., then fled in a pickup belonging to one of the victims. The Sheriff's Department didn't get a call until around 6 p.m.
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#31. To: scrapper2 (#0)
I don't know who that neighbor was but apparently he must have deserved it for being buddies with Kyle. There's no such thing as Karma. WFAA/Channel 8 quoted unnamed sources as saying that Kyle, who lived in Midlothian, and a neighbor had taken Routh on an outing to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Routh turned on the men and shot them in the back, the report said.
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#32. To: scrapper2 (#27)
Regrettably I believe most of us have matured through the support our troops, to the end the aggression and support our troops and have had to come to the conclusion that the dichotomy of the wars and the troops cannot be done in a for profit all volunteer armed forces. And then there is US blood and treasure being spent to solely to benefit corporations and foreign countries. Finally and maybe most important, "Beware standing armies" it is only a matter of time before these troops, these weapons and these tactics WILL be used against us. The length of time is not up to me. I remember years ago loudly and rudely protesting for the release of out troops for a week at the Chinese embassy in DC when they downed one of "our" EP3 spy planes in their airspace. I wouldn't do it again if they bombed Pearl Harbor, DC, and Camp Pendleton. Who's fault is that? I dunno.
“Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele
“The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb
“I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
#33. To: GreyLmist (#30)
Good catch. Lengthy time lag (2.5 hours) before authorities were notified.
#34. To: scrapper2, GreyLmist, 4 (#33)
I caught the delay thingie on the afternoon blurb...how can that be remotely possible at a resort like RoughCreek.com - is it really that rough?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#35. To: Lod, GreyLmist, Tomy the Mad Artist, 4 (#34)
Apparently the murders were not discovered for 2 hours. Isn't there supposed to be a range supervisor present on the premises at all times or even other people who would be using the range in the afternoon? www.wfaa.com/news/crime/rough-creek-189536271.html snip Investigators said Routh, a former Marine and expert marksman who is said to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, is believed to have turned his weapon on Kyle and the second victim, killing them both at point-blank range about 3:30 p.m. Their bodies were not discovered until nearly two hours later.
#36. To: scrapper2, Lod, TommyTheMadArtist (#35)
Maybe the witnesses who knew about the shootings for 2.5 hours before the Sheriff should be charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Maybe one of them is a doctor and they waited to call anyone until the doctor determined that the men had bled to death. TommyTheMadArtist: Just a week or so ago, we had 3 shootings at 3 different gun shows on the same day. Now, a trained military sniper, killed a gun range by someone who apparently fled the seen in the vehicle that was driven there by the two dead men. The shooter is characterized as a ptsd vteran. So, the socialists will say all veterans with ptsd are dangerous. Gun ranges are dangerous. Not even a trained sniper could prevent a murder from happening. Do you know who ptsd people kill the most? Themselves. Which tells me that were looking at another convenient lie.4um Title: - Post #1 Not even a gun range had enough good guys with a gun to stop one bad guy with a gun
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#37. To: GreyLmist (#36)
As I mentioned to Tommy elsewhere, this story is beginning to smell, really smell badly.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#38. To: Lod, Itistoolate (#37)
Meant to flag Itistoolate on the last post. It's not enough for America to constantly go on Defense against PsyOp/BlackOps to expose the fakery and try to block legislative moves to Communize America. PsyOps/BlackOps are Acts of War. As I mentioned to Tommy elsewhere, this story is beginning to smell, really smell badly.
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#39. To: GreyLmist (#38)
Caught this on FR: "Kyle was sued by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura over a portion of the book that claims Kyle punched Ventura in a 2006 bar fight over unpatriotic remarks. Ventura says the punch never happened and that the claim by Kyle defamed him." "Kyle had asked that Ventura’s claims of invasion of privacy and “unjust enrichment” be dismissed, saying there was no legal basis for them. But a federal judge said the lawsuit should proceed. Both sides were told to be ready for trial by Aug. 1." Read more: www.foxnews.com/us/2013/0...-seal-chris-kyle-fatally- shot-at-texas-shooting-range-report-says/#ixzz2JqnEJQ00 “Kyle is also famous for knocking loudmouth Jessie Ventura on his ass in a bar in front of a number of witnesses, although Venutra later denied it.” “... the SEALs were in the bar to mourn the loss of team member. They had gathered with the family of Medal of Honor recipient Mike Mansoor when Ventura made it known to many that he did not agree with the war. Kyle claims that he approached the former governor, and asked him to keep it down, informing Jesse that the family of the deceased was also with them. That’s when Ventura unleashed more of his insensitive comments and Kyle reportedly countered with a one-punch knockdown. Earlier this week, The Blaze featured a story about Chris Kyle and his autobiography that explains his amazing prowess with a rifle. We know now that Chris is also accurate with his fists and at close range. Here’s the interview from the Opie and Anthony show on Wednesday. Chris Kyle explained the encounter with Jesse “the Body” Ventura. (Content warning, this video contains what the Navy might call “salty language:”) www.theblaze.com/stories/...sed-a-navy-seal-to-punch- jesse-ventura-in-the-face/
Know guns, know safety, know liberty. No guns, no safety, no liberty.
#40. To: randge (#39)
It'll be interesting to hear Jesse's take on all this...
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#41. To: Lod (#40)
This is a little dated, but from what Jesse says, it sounds like Kyle's story is pretty suspect if not outright bullshit.
Know guns, know safety, know liberty. No guns, no safety, no liberty.
#42. To: randge (#41)
Thanks for the reminder. JV has addressed this allegation on more than one occasion with AJ. Something fishy with Kyle. imo
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#43. To: randge (#39) (Edited)
I went to theblaze.com site you posted and clicked on the Mike Mansoor link there [http://www.navyseals.com/michael-monsoor]. A message said Page Not Found and there was no info there that I saw about Mike Mansoor but some info there re: Chris Kyle. I remember researching something years ago because of Mike Mansoor having been reported killed -- not much research but something about the name Mansoor, besides that it means Victorious. Somebody else in the news around that time with that last name from a foreign country maybe. Edited for spacing and to remove a word in sentence 1. Medal of Honor recipient Mike Mansoor
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#44. To: All (#43)
Noticed that the navyseals.com link posted at theblaze.com site has the name mispelled as Monsoor insead of Mansoor. I went to theblaze.com site you posted and clicked on the Mike Mansoor link there [http://www.navyseals.com/michael-monsoor]. A message said Page Not Found and there was no info there that I saw about Mike Mansoor but some info there re: Chris Kyle.
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#45. To: scrapper2 (#27)
Up until now what I've posted on this subject has been from my gut and reflected my experience with absolutely NO knowledge of the man or soldier Chris Kyle was or the contents of his book. here is a little light reading that seems to cover him pretty well, it appears to absolve my judgment and confirms my fears, he has been weighed, measured, and found wanting. He went to meet his maker clueless. Thankfully I didn't have to read or pay for his book to get a confirmation. SazzyLilSmartAzz says: February 3, 2013 at 10:09 pm Sunday, February 5, 2012 The Pseudo-Courage of Chris Kyle As a sniper with the Navy SEALs in Iraq, Chris Kyle was shot twice and wounded on several other occasions. He is credited with 160 confirmed kills. He received several commendations. Of his fierceness there is no reasonable doubt. Whether his exploits display courage is an entirely separate question. American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, the ghost-written memoir for which Kyle claims primary authorship, offers convincing testimony that Kyle not only failed to display genuine courage in Iraq, but was incapable of recognizing it when it was exhibited by desperate patriots seeking to evict the armed foreigners who had invaded and occupied their country. The insurgents who fought the American invasion (and the few “allied” troops representing governments that had been bribed or brow-beaten into collaborating in that crime) were sub-human “savages” and “cowards,” according to Kyle. “Savage, despicable evil,” writes Kyle. “That’s what we were fighting in Iraq…. People ask me all the time, `How many people have you killed?’… The number is not important to me. I only wish I had killed more. Not for bragging rights, but because I believe the world is a better place without savages out there taking American lives.” None of the American military personnel whose lives were wasted in Iraq had to die there, because none of them had any legitimate reason to be there. From Kyle’s perspective, however, only incorrigibly “evil” people would object once their country had been designated the target of one of Washington’s frequent outbursts of murderous humanitarianism. The insensate savagery of the Iraqi population was supposedly illustrated by the first kill Kyle recorded as a sniper, while covering a Marine advance near Nasiriyah in March, 2003. “I looked through the scope,” Kyle recalls. “The only people who were moving were [a] woman and maybe a child or two nearby. I watched the troops pull up. Ten young, proud Marines in uniform got out of their vehicles and gathered for a foot patrol. As the Americans organized, the woman took something from beneath her clothes, and yanked at it. She’d set a grenade.” Kyle shot the woman twice. “It was my duty to shoot, and I don’t regret it,” Kyle attests. “The woman was already dead. I was just making sure she didn’t take any Marines with her. It was clear that not only did she want to kill them, but she didn’t care about anybody else nearby who would have been blown up by the grenade or killed in the firefight. Children on the street, people in the houses, maybe her child….” Of course, if the Marines hadn’t invaded that woman’s neighborhood, she wouldn’t have been driven to take such desperate action – but Kyle either cannot or will not understand the motives of an Iraqi patriot. “She was … blinded by evil,” Kyle writes of the woman he murdered from a safe distance. “She just wanted Americans dead, no matter what. My shots saved several Americans, whose lives were clearly worth more than that woman’s twisted soul.” Were Kyle just a touch more literate, he might recognize the term untermenschen, a German expression that encapsulates his view of the Iraqis who took up arms to repel foreign invaders. From his perspective, they were incurably inferior to their “liberators” and possessed of an inexplicable hatred toward their natural betters. For some reason many Iraqis resented the armed emissaries of the distant government that had installed Saddam in power, built up his arsenal and apparatus of domestic repression, and then conferred upon the inhabitants of that nation the unmatched blessing of several decades of wars, embargoes, airstrikes, disease, and the early, avoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of children. “The people we were fighting in Iraq, after Saddam’s army fled or was defeated, were fanatics,” Kyle insists. “They hated us because we weren’t Muslim. They wanted to kill us, even though we’d just booted out their dictator, because we practiced a different religion than they did.” Actually, most of them probably wanted to kill Kyle and his comrades because they had invaded and occupied their country. They were prepared to use lethal force to protect their homes against armed intruders who had no right to be there. Ironically, Kyle’s book offers evidence that he understands that principle; he simply doesn’t believe that it applies to Iraqis. In one incident described by Kyle, he and several other U.S. personnel raid an Iraqi home, in the basement of which they discover a mass grave containing the bodies of several soldiers and Marines. For several panic-stricken moments, Kyle is understandably terrified by the thought that he might find the lifeless body of his younger brother, a Marine who had also been deployed to Iraq. With obvious and vehement disgust, Kyle cites the “murdered young men whose bodies we had pulled out” of that basement grave as evidence of the bestial nature of the enemy. He exhibits no interest at all in the fact that tens of millions of Iraqis have seen friends and family meet violent, avoidable deaths as a result of the wars and sanctions imposed on their country by Washington. Untermenschen, apparently, aren’t entitled to experience grief and rage – much less the right to defend their homes and families against aggressive violence. After returning from his first combat tour in Iraq, Kyle recalls, he was rudely roused from slumber one morning when the burglar alarm went off. Although this was a malfunction rather than a real emergency, Kyle’s reaction was revealing. “I grabbed my pistol and went to confront the criminal,” he recalls. “No son of a bitch was breaking into my house and living to tell about it.” Why was it “evil” for Iraqis to feel exactly the same way about the foreign sons of bitches who broke into their country and wrecked the place? Later in the book, describing a stalking exercise during his training to become a sniper, Kyle recounts how he “heard the distinct rattle of a snake nearby.” “A rattler had taken a particular liking to the piece of real estate I had to cross,” Kyle recalls. “Willing it away didn’t work…. I crept slowly to the side, altering my course. Some enemies aren’t worth fighting.” Exactly: The only enemies worth “fighting,” apparently, are those who aren’t capable of hurting you when you trespass on their turf. The Gadsden Flag – featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the directive “Don’t Tread On Me” – was, and remains, the best symbolic expression of authentic American patriotism. Genuine American patriots can understand why patriots of other countries would feel similar attachments, and be similarly inclined to repel foreign invaders. This is why they will never support any war that puts other Americans in the position of killing foreign patriots who are defending their own homes. A rattlesnake defending its territory earns Kyle’s respect; an Iraqi patriot fighting on his home soil with his back to his home and the face to his enemy, however, is “blinded by evil” and not truly human. “They may have been cowards, but they could certainly kill people,” observes Kyle of the guerrillas. “The insurgents didn’t worry about ROEs [Rules of Engagement] or court-martials [sic]. If they had the advantage, they would kill any Westerner they could find, whether they were soldiers or not.” If that charge (made on page 87 of Kyle’s book) is accurate, it might reflect the fact that the Iraqi resistance (as well as the tactics of foreign guerrillas who joined the fight) was playing according to ground rules established by the U.S. early in the war. On page 79, Kyle describes the Rules of Engagement that his unit followed when they were deployed to Shatt al-Arab, a river on the Iraq-Iran border: “Our ROEs when the war kicked off were pretty simple: If you see anyone from about sixteen to sixty-five and they’re male, shoot ‘em. Kill every male you see. That wasn’t the official language, but that was the idea.” (Emphasis in the original.) Those orders were of a piece with the studied indifference to civilian casualties that characterized the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign that began the war. In preparing that onslaught General Tommy Franks and his military planners were guided by a computer program that referred to civilian casualties as “bugsplat.” Franks had no compunction about ordering bombing missions that would result in what the computer projections described as “heavy bugsplat.” After all, aren’t the lives of American military personnel “clearly worth more” – to use Kyle’s phrase — than those of the Iraqi civilians, who were mere insects to be annihilated? In one of her occasional contributions to Kyle’s book, his wife Taya rebukes people who criticize the bloodshed wrought in Iraq by her husband and his colleagues: “As far as I can see it, anyone who has a problem with what guys do over there is incapable of empathy.” The trait she describes isn’t empathy; it’s a variation on the kind of pre-emptive self-pity described by Hannah Arendt in her study Eichmann in Jerusalem. Referring to those who killed on behalf of the Third Reich, Arendt observed: “What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (`a great task that occurs once in two thousand years’), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did….” This was true even of those who belonged to the SS: Even those in the Reich’s killer elite were not able to suppress their conscience entirely. Thus the “trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: `What horrible things I did to people!,’ the murderers would be able to say: `What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!’” Kyle’s memoir is remarkable chiefly for the complete absence of the kind of moral anguish Arendt describes among the SS. Kyle eagerly participated in a patently illegal and entirely unnecessary war of aggression against a country that never attacked, harmed, or threatened the United States. He killed scores of people, terrorized thousands more. As Kyle tells the story, he reveled in the experience, and regrets only that he wasn’t able to slaughter more of the “savages” who surrounded him. During Kyle’s last deployment to Iraq, his unit – Charlie Company of SEAL Team 3 – assigned themselves the nickname “The Punishers,” appropriating as their insignia the Death’s Head logo used by the psychotic comic book character of the same name. Interestingly, a group of police officers in Milwaukee had exactly the same idea. They also adopted the “Punisher” logo, which they displayed on their police vehicles and wore on knitted caps as they prowled the street in search of asses to kick. The most memorable exhibition of what they regarded as valor came in October 2004, when a thugscrum of “Punishers” beset a male dancer named Frank Jude, who was nearly beaten to death because he was suspected of stealing a badge. After throwing Jude to the ground, the Punishers severely beat, kicked, and choked him – then put a knife to his throat and jammed a pen into one of his ears. The victim survived the assault, but was left with permanent brain damage. The officers later claimed that this amount of violence was necessary to “subdue” Jude – who was never charged in connection with the incident. The jury in the criminal trial accepted that claim and acquitted the officers – who were later found guilty of criminal civil rights violations. During his service in Iraq, Kyle occasionally functioned as a law enforcement officer of sorts. He was involved in dozens of raids against the homes of suspected “insurgents,” many of whom were arrested on the basis of uncorroborated accusations by anonymous informants. He allows that many of the people dragged off in shackles were entirely innocent, but maintains that he wasn’t ever troubled by that fact; he was just doing his “duty.” Shortly before the war began, Kyle was part of a SEAL unit tasked to enforce UNsanctions against Iraq by intercepting tankers leaving the country with unlicensed oil deliveries. On one occasion, he boarded a tanker commanded by a commercial sea captain who “had some fight in him, and even though he was unarmed, he wasn’t ready to surrender.” “He made a run at me,” Kyle continues. “Pretty stupid. First of all, I’m not only bigger than him, but I was wearing full body armor. Not to mention the fact that I had a submachine gun in my hand. I took the muzzle of my gun and struck the idiot in the chest. He went right down.” If Kyle had been a warrior, rather than a bully, he would have admired the authentic courage displayed by the smaller, unarmed man who fought to protect the ship and cargo entrusted to him. How would he act if the roles were reversed – if he were the over-matched man trying to defend private property from a group of state-licensed pirates claiming “authority” from a UN mandate? We’ll never know the answer to that question, because Kyle’s “courage” is of the sort that only manifests itself in the service of power, and in the company of those enjoying a prohibitive advantage over their victims. Kyle’s “service” continues, even though he’s retired from the military. He is president of Craft International, a Homeland Security contractor involved in training domestic law enforcement agencies. It’s quite likely that Kyle’s outfit will soak up a considerable portion of the roughly $1.5 billion dollars the Obama administration seeks to hire military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to work as police, emergency personnel, and park rangers.
“Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele
“The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb
“I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
#46. To: scrapper2 (#0)
The linked article at Ft. Worth Star Telegram has no update notice there but the underlined sentence below is vanished: This section appears next as a replacement: Officer Kyle Roberts at the Erath County Jail said Routh arrived there Sunday morning and is being held on a combined $3 million bond. Roberts did not have information on whether Routh had a lawyer. Kyle and Chad Littlefield, 35, had taken Routh to the range, said Travis Cox, the director of a nonprofit Kyle helped found. Littlefield was Kyle's neighbor and "workout buddy" in Midlothian, Cox told The Associated Press on Sunday morning. "What I know is Chris and a gentleman - great guy, I knew him well, Chad Littlefield - took a veteran out shooting who was struggling with PTSD to try to assist him, try to help him, try to, you know, give him a helping hand and he turned the gun on both of them, killing them," Cox told AP. After that insert, the linked article continues the same as it does here for 3 paragraphs and then this posted section vanishes: The sheriff said he could not confirm how the victims were shot. The rest of the article from the paragraph that begins "In January 2012," seems to be unchanged. Noted at the bottom of the article at the site: Title: Military's deadliest sniper killed on gun range of resort near Glen Rose
Source: Ft. Worth Star Telegram
URL Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/0 ... s-deadliest-sniper-killed.html
Published: Feb 3, 2013
Author: By Barry Schlachter "The suspect has been caught and is in custody in Lancaster," he said. Erath County sheriff's investigators and Texas Rangers were securing a capital murder warrant, he said.
DPS trooper Sgt. Lonny Haschel said in a news release that Routh was arraigned Saturday evening on two counts of capital murder.
"WFAA/Channel 8 quoted unnamed sources as saying that Kyle, who lived in Midlothian, and a neighbor had taken Routh on an outing to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Routh turned on the men and shot them in the back, the report said."
Staff writer Susan McFarland contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#47. To: Hmmmmm (#45)
Sounds like what's been said of Israel's ROEs re: military aged males. “Our ROEs when the war kicked off were pretty simple: If you see anyone from about sixteen to sixty-five and they’re male, shoot ‘em. Kill every male you see. That wasn’t the official language, but that was the idea.” (Emphasis in the original.)
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
#48. To: GreyLmist (#46)
So what's the significence? Maybe the DA changed his/her mind about seeking the death penalty because the shooter was criminally insane at the time of the shooting?
#49. To: noone222 (#4)
It surely does. It seems to me that the U.S. military preys upon the deep rooted patriotism found easily in the Southern States.
"Mr. Prime Minister, there is only one important question facing us, and that is the question whether the white race will survive." -- Leonid Brezhnev to James Callahan
#50. To: scrapper2 (#20)
There is for me. No one feels even a teeny tiny bit of sadness that this guy was murdered by and while he was trying to help a fellow military person deal with PTSD?
"Mr. Prime Minister, there is only one important question facing us, and that is the question whether the white race will survive." -- Leonid Brezhnev to James Callahan
#51. To: Hmmmmm (#25)
Was Murder Inc. treated with respect? How about the crips, bloods, or MS13? They may not have been good men, but they were men. That deserves some respect. I personally don't care whether it was greed, desperation, or ignorance that made them sign on the dotted line.
"Mr. Prime Minister, there is only one important question facing us, and that is the question whether the white race will survive." -- Leonid Brezhnev to James Callahan
#52. To: scrapper2 (#48)
Maybe the DA changed his/her mind about seeking the death penalty because the shooter was criminally insane at the time of the shooting? I don't know what the DA has in mind. I think the main significance of the article alterations is that info is being removed from the record. So what's the significence?
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"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
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