American Sniper fracas: No honour in lying, says Jesse Ventura

LONDON — American Sniper, the Oscar-nominated Clint Eastwood film starring Bradley Cooper, has come under fire from various groups recently. Based on former United States Navy SEAL and sniper Chris Kyle’s best-selling 2012 memoir, American Sniper: The Autobiography Of The Most Lethal Sniper In US Military History, the film has proven a hit with audiences, taking more than US$200 million (S$270 million) at the US and Canadian box offices. But one man who won’t be buying a ticket to the movie is the former wrestler, former Governor of Minnesota and US Navy veteran Jesse Ventura.

Ventura has voiced his disapproval of Eastwood’s film, describing it as no more authentic than the Dirty Harry series of films in which Eastwood starred as a tough-as-nuts police detective. In his book, Kyle refers to an encounter with a man, later identified as Ventura, in a California bar in 2006. Ventura allegedly stated that the US Navy SEALs deserved to “lose a few” men in Iraq; Kyle then describes knocking him out with a single punch. Ventura denies the incident took place and last year won US$1.8 million in damages from Kyle’s estate, which is now appealing against the ruling. Kyle himself was killed in 2013 by Eddie Ray Routh, who is awaiting trial.

“A hero must be honourable, must have honour. And you can’t have honour if you’re a liar. There is no honour in lying,” Ventura told the Associated Press. He went on to criticise the film for falsely suggesting that Iraq was linked to the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Ed Huddleston, a lawyer for Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, refused to comment on Ventura’s remarks, due to the ongoing appeal. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH