The Shooter Is Shot Down At the Gun Range

Yeek.

Or is it some perverse justice?

This man, Chris Kyle, is the author of "American Sniper", part of which I have read, recoiled from, put down, pondered. Chris Kyle is now dead, killed at a Texas gun range, allegedly while trying to help a Viet Marine Vet (accounts differ) suffering from PTSD -- which seems to be something of a theme these days.

Snipering in our Glorious BattleZones during the heady days of the BushWars was considered Manly and Heroic by many observers, unless, that is, you were on the receiving end of the snipering, in which case it was considered cowardly and criminal, and that was the charitable interpretation.

In many cities in Iraq, for example, American snipers killed anyone who appeared on the street -- women out to buy food, children, dogs, goats, you name it, all were targeted and shot by snipers. People were shot in their homes if they were seen in windows or doorways or at their gates. Anyone and everyone, and their animals, were targets for American snipers. This wasn't assassination of the "bad guys," it was straight-out murder, and most of the snipers loved it, got off on it, reveled in it, as did their President and Vice President, in their White House bunker, awaiting reports from the field. Preferably with pictures.

Chris Kyle was one of these joyous snipers, considered one of the most prolific, and therefore effective, individual killers in the practice of modern warfare. That practice includes random murder of civilians as a terrorizing tactic in order to more easily control restive civilian populations.

Let's not fool ourselves. That's what modern snipers do. They routinely deny it, claiming they only take shots at verified armed insurgents, never at civilians, let alone random individuals or their animals.

Those on the ground receiving sniper fire would vigorously dispute the sniper's claims to honorable kills. Those on the receiving end would call them liars and murderers.

The supposed "bad guy" is anyone and everyone -- including their pets and domestic animals. The objective is control of civil populations through fear and terror. Oddly enough, despite the thousands murdered by American snipers in Iraq, the tactic failed, and the strategy of terror was an unmitigated disaster.

People like Chris Kyle were held up as heroes. At least for a time. For some people, of course, they still are heroes and always will be. But what were they really doing besides imposing a reign of terror on civilian populations that were chafing under foreign occupation?

People like Chris Kyle were eager to impose a similar reign of gunner terror on the American civil population.




Many still are.

Reflect on the DC Sniper episode for a sense of just how much terror was being imposed on the civilian populations of Our Glorious War Zones during the hey-day of snipering.

Reflect, too, on the fact that the role of the individual sniper like Chris Kyle has been largely superceded by the Drone Pilots celebrated in the recent NOVA episode...



Progress!

It's time for this shit to stop.