 [History News Network] The ultimate nemesis in the recent Hollywood blockbuster America Sniper is a semi-mythical Arab sniper known as "Mustafa" who systematically wreaks havoc on US troops in Iraq. Not only does he kill the friend of elite US SEAL sniper Chris Kyle (powerfully played by Bradley Cooper), but he preys on US troops, remorselessly picking them off one after another. The scenes of American troops being killed from afar by the unseen Arab gunman are as heart wrenching for movie-goers as the scenes of Chris Kyle picking off menacing Iraqi insurgents are uplifting. Kyle-Cooper feels he cannot leave the US soldiers on patrol on the rubble-strewn streets below his rooftop "overwatch," until he kills his Iraqi-Syrian bane. Thus a timeless rivalry is born and played out in the killing streets of Iraq.
But is there any real historical basis for this pulse-pounding plot of two shooters from different worlds in an epic rivalry in the concrete jungles of Ramadi and Fallujah? As in much of this ode to American soldierly valor, there has been considerable liberty taken in creating an American legend. In his best-selling book, which formed the basis for the movie, Chris Kyle writes of Mustafa sparsely, stating only "From the reports we heard, Mustafa was an Olympics marksman who was using his skills against Americans and Iraqi police and soldiers. Several videos had been made and posted, boasting of his ability. I never saw him, but other snipers later killed an Iraqi sniper we think was him." |