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Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, who knows the azimuth bearings on which American boots-on-the ground will march out next? The hunt for the ISIS is turning out to be wider and longer ranging than anybody visualised or bargained for, and the show is still far from over.
The movie American Sniper is an uber-patriotic film set in Iraq, and reflects this geopolitical setting. The film created huge waves of intense ideological debate, with ripples washing outwards worldwide from its epicentre in the US.
The film is based on the true story of Chris Kyle, an American Marine, drafted to serve in Iraq. It was considered for an Oscar award which, however, ultimately did not come its way, with many in the US, and elsewhere criticising the film as a disquieting endorsement of the growing jingoism and everyday violence in present-day American society, as well as for its in-your-face glorification of American militarism.
Chris Kyle, the central character in the film, is a US Marine sniper, a fraternity sometimes regarded even within the military itself almost as practitioners of the dark arts, like venomous vipers coiled up amongst dry leaves, all sensors on alert for the unwary footfall.
Unfortunately, lost in the backscatter of these passionately intense philosophical debates has been the movie itself and its devastatingly accurate portrayal of the deadly world of the military sniper in wartime. The only other comparable “sniper classic” has been the Russian film Enemy At The Gates. It is about a Russian sniper operating amidst the ruins of Stalingrad in the Second World War, which did not generate any controversies given its background of the “war of necessity” against the “forces of evil” of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. American Sniper, however, is set against the backdrop of the Bush-Rumsfeld War in Iraq, widely regarded as an American private venture to secure Iraqi oil resources, and as such cannot make claims to any moral pretensions.
That said, given that the general socio-cultural environment of the US is quite different to that of India, does American Sniper hold any military or cultural relevance in the Indian context?
On balance, the answer may even be a cautious “yes”, because a lumpenised form of gun culture does exist in India as well, based on crude country-made guns carried by criminals. Although hunting is prohibited in India, there is a flourishing counter-culture of wildlife poaching.
Military sniping is a highly arcane and specialised craft, and good military snipers cannot be machine assembled off a conveyer belt. Each one has to be individually discovered from within the organisation, selected, and thereafter painstakingly mentored and handcrafted into shape by master craftsmen with experience in this deadly skill. The occasional really good ones who so emerge from the process, are million-dollar finds, at par with any star strikers in soccer, or fast bowlers in cricket but without their footlights, fan following, or public adoration.
Good snipers in India — whether in the Indian Army’s Special Forces aka para-commandos, or its “ghatak” platoons in infantry battalions, the Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos (MARCOS) or in the military component of the National Security Guard — are specialised men for special jobs. Some of these were briefly glimpsed during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Military snipers do not function as “lone wolves”, though capable of doing so if required. They are, in effect, long-range “weapons systems,” which operate by stealth, in buddy pairs of a shooter, the marksman who shoots and his observer or spotter, who picks out targets for him.
Apart from finely honed human raw material, there is a requirement for specially designed sniper equipment, rifles with high magnification telescopic sights and “match grade” shooting ammunition, besides a wide range of camouflaged “designer clothing” and other accessories.
According to published sources, Indian Army’s present sniper rifles are an assorted mix of Russian and Israeli weapons, with a more fearsome very large calibre indigenously designed and produced “Anti-Material Rifle” (AMR) due to make an appearance in sometime.
Manufacture of military grade small arms are restricted to ordnance factories, a policy which has prevented uncontrolled proliferation of firearms within civil society but, given the government work culture, has also slowed down production considerably.
This is perhaps what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was referring to when he spoke at the Aero India event recently held at Bengaluru, where he urged foreign manufacturers to invest in Indian industry and make this country a base for a low-cost, high-quality defence industry.
The film American Sniper is perhaps an endorsement message for the Indian defence industry from a very untypical source, particularly for the government departments concerned with indigenous defence production, which, in turn, has to derive from indigenous defence research and development.
India has abundant capabilities and assets in both fields, but lacks purposefulness and a sense of mission in either. But the incumbent defence minister, has the reputation and record for both, as he has demonstrated when he was an effective and hard driving chief minister of Goa. He is still comparatively new at his present job, and will certainly require to push the ponderous, sluggish, mass of the ministry of defence, if “Make in India” is to take wings.
American Sniper spurs ‘Make in India’ | idrw.org
The movie American Sniper is an uber-patriotic film set in Iraq, and reflects this geopolitical setting. The film created huge waves of intense ideological debate, with ripples washing outwards worldwide from its epicentre in the US.
The film is based on the true story of Chris Kyle, an American Marine, drafted to serve in Iraq. It was considered for an Oscar award which, however, ultimately did not come its way, with many in the US, and elsewhere criticising the film as a disquieting endorsement of the growing jingoism and everyday violence in present-day American society, as well as for its in-your-face glorification of American militarism.
Chris Kyle, the central character in the film, is a US Marine sniper, a fraternity sometimes regarded even within the military itself almost as practitioners of the dark arts, like venomous vipers coiled up amongst dry leaves, all sensors on alert for the unwary footfall.
Unfortunately, lost in the backscatter of these passionately intense philosophical debates has been the movie itself and its devastatingly accurate portrayal of the deadly world of the military sniper in wartime. The only other comparable “sniper classic” has been the Russian film Enemy At The Gates. It is about a Russian sniper operating amidst the ruins of Stalingrad in the Second World War, which did not generate any controversies given its background of the “war of necessity” against the “forces of evil” of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. American Sniper, however, is set against the backdrop of the Bush-Rumsfeld War in Iraq, widely regarded as an American private venture to secure Iraqi oil resources, and as such cannot make claims to any moral pretensions.
That said, given that the general socio-cultural environment of the US is quite different to that of India, does American Sniper hold any military or cultural relevance in the Indian context?
On balance, the answer may even be a cautious “yes”, because a lumpenised form of gun culture does exist in India as well, based on crude country-made guns carried by criminals. Although hunting is prohibited in India, there is a flourishing counter-culture of wildlife poaching.
Military sniping is a highly arcane and specialised craft, and good military snipers cannot be machine assembled off a conveyer belt. Each one has to be individually discovered from within the organisation, selected, and thereafter painstakingly mentored and handcrafted into shape by master craftsmen with experience in this deadly skill. The occasional really good ones who so emerge from the process, are million-dollar finds, at par with any star strikers in soccer, or fast bowlers in cricket but without their footlights, fan following, or public adoration.
Good snipers in India — whether in the Indian Army’s Special Forces aka para-commandos, or its “ghatak” platoons in infantry battalions, the Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos (MARCOS) or in the military component of the National Security Guard — are specialised men for special jobs. Some of these were briefly glimpsed during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Military snipers do not function as “lone wolves”, though capable of doing so if required. They are, in effect, long-range “weapons systems,” which operate by stealth, in buddy pairs of a shooter, the marksman who shoots and his observer or spotter, who picks out targets for him.
Apart from finely honed human raw material, there is a requirement for specially designed sniper equipment, rifles with high magnification telescopic sights and “match grade” shooting ammunition, besides a wide range of camouflaged “designer clothing” and other accessories.
According to published sources, Indian Army’s present sniper rifles are an assorted mix of Russian and Israeli weapons, with a more fearsome very large calibre indigenously designed and produced “Anti-Material Rifle” (AMR) due to make an appearance in sometime.
Manufacture of military grade small arms are restricted to ordnance factories, a policy which has prevented uncontrolled proliferation of firearms within civil society but, given the government work culture, has also slowed down production considerably.
This is perhaps what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was referring to when he spoke at the Aero India event recently held at Bengaluru, where he urged foreign manufacturers to invest in Indian industry and make this country a base for a low-cost, high-quality defence industry.
The film American Sniper is perhaps an endorsement message for the Indian defence industry from a very untypical source, particularly for the government departments concerned with indigenous defence production, which, in turn, has to derive from indigenous defence research and development.
India has abundant capabilities and assets in both fields, but lacks purposefulness and a sense of mission in either. But the incumbent defence minister, has the reputation and record for both, as he has demonstrated when he was an effective and hard driving chief minister of Goa. He is still comparatively new at his present job, and will certainly require to push the ponderous, sluggish, mass of the ministry of defence, if “Make in India” is to take wings.
American Sniper spurs ‘Make in India’ | idrw.org
