Having just read the late Chris Kyle's autobiography 'American Sniper' I got the impression, rightly I would own, that while Kyle was a seriously brave and very accomplished guy in military terms; he was a bit of a dweeb in the realm of the intellect.
That isn't meant as an insult or ad hominem, but rather a simple observation that while Kyle was a greater sniper and physically fit to a lunatic degree (I keep myself in great shape, but I don't enjoying pumping iron to the extent that Kyle did).
He was a 300 pound weakling in the intellectual world, because his understanding of the world was remarkably two dimensional (for example his frankly weird defence of the well-known made-up claims [that came from the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister] about Saddam's NBC program that 'he hid them' so well and that strangely nobody could find them [even now]) (1) and his inability to show even the slightest hint of criticality about his own beliefs (God, Country, Family [in that order]). (2)
Sure the book reads well enough (probably due to the two co-authors Jim Defelice and Scott McEwan), but it is more a brain dump of assorted memories (with some noteworthy human interest commentary from his widow Taya) than something liable to make the reader think.
A good instance of this lack of criticality can be found in the fact that Kyle received an award from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs in 2005 (from the then Chief of Staff of the US Air Force Norton Schwarz), which is duly noted in his autobiography. (3) However Kyle - in spite of repeated references to his strong conviction in the truth of Christianity - (4) simply doesn't ask three very obvious questions based on this.
1) Why on earth is there a 'Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs' in a predominantly Christian country like the United States?
2) Moreover why, if a 'Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs' is required, is there not a 'Buddhist Institute for National Security Affairs' or a 'Muslim Institute for National Security Affairs'?
3) Why are there so few jews in the United States military?
The simple answer is because jews use organizations like the 'Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs' to push wars that are in Israel's not the United States' interests so that the only substantially jewish military ever (the IDF) doesn't have to fight and die (thus preserving jewish lives), but Americans (and any other gentiles who can be encouraged to come along) can do it in their stead.
As such the regret I have about Kyle is that he was in Iraq for the wrong reasons (Israel's interests not the United States' [as is extremely well documented]) (5) and that he didn't live long enough to have his 'Road to Damascus Moment' in regards to who got so many of his buddies killed fighting those Kyle styles as 'savages' (6) and more memorably 'whackadoos'. (7)
References
(1) Jim Defelice, Chris Kyle, Scott McEwan, 2013, 'American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. History', 2nd Edition, Harper Collins: New York, pp. 52; 88-89
(2) Ibid, p. 7
(3) Ibid, PS, p. 2
(4) For example Ibid, pp. 7; 10; 219
(5) On this see Grant Smith, 2006, 'Deadly Dogma: How Neoconservatives Broke the Law to Deceive America', 1st Edition, Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: Washington D.C.
(6) Defelice, Kyle, McEwan, Op. Cit., pp. 4; 219; This, as it is turns out, is very common among military snipers. On this see: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16544490
(7) Defelice, Kyle, McEwan, Op. Cit., p. 187