TASK DEFINITION: Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.
PROBLEM: The real American Sniper was a hate-filled killer. Why are simplistic patriots treating him as a hero? I have to confess : I was suckered by the trailer for American Sniper . It's a masterpiece of short-form tension - a confluence of sound and image so viscerally evocative it feels almost domineering . You cannot resist . You will be stressed out . You will feel . Or , as I believe I put it in a blog about the trailer , "Clint Eastwood's American Sniper trailer will ruin your pants." But however effective it is as a piece of cinema, even a cursory look into the film's backstory - and particularly the public reaction to its release - raises disturbing questions about which stories we choose to codify into truth, and whose, and why, and the messy social costs of transmogrifying real life into entertainment . Chris Kyle, a US navy Seal from Texas, was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and claimed to have killed more than 255 people during his six-year military career . In his memoir, Kyle reportedly described killing as "fun", something he "loved" ; he was unwavering in his belief that everyone he shot was a "bad guy" . "I hate the damn savages," he wrote . "I couldn't give a flying fuck about the Iraqis." He bragged about murdering looters during Hurricane Katrina , though that was never substantiated . He was murdered in 2013 at a Texas gun range by a 25-year-old veteran reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder . However we diverge politically, I have enough faith in Eastwood's artistry and intellect to trust that he is not a black-and-white ideologue - or, at least, that he knows that the limitations of such a worldview would make for an extremely dull movie . But the same can't be said for Eastwood's subject, or, as response to the film has demonstrated, many of his fans . As Laura Miller wrote in Salon:"In Kyle's version of the Iraq war, the parties consisted of Americans, who are good by virtue of being American, and fanatic Muslims whose 'savage, despicable evil' led them to want to kill Americans simply because they are Christians." Adds Scott Foundas at Variety:"Chris Kyle saw the world in clearly demarcated terms of good and evil, and American Sniper suggests that such dichromatism may have been key to both his success and survival; on the battlefield, doubt is akin to death." Eastwood, on the other hand, Foundas says, "sees only shades of gray" , and American Sniper is a morally ambiguous, emotionally complex film . But there are a lot of Chris Kyles in the world , and the chasm between Eastwood's intent and his audience's reception touches on the old Chappelle's Show conundrum: a lot of white people laughed at Dave Chappelle's rapier racial satire for the wrong reasons, in ways that may have actually exacerbated stereotypes about black people in the minds of intellectual underachievers . Is that Chappelle's fault? Should he care? Likewise, much of the US right wing appears to have seized upon American Sniper with similarly shallow comprehension - treating it with the same unconsidered, rah-rah reverence that they would the national anthem or the flag itself . Only a few weeks into its release, the film has been flattened into a symbol to serve the interests of an ideology that, arguably, runs counter to the ethos of the film itself . How much, if at all, should Eastwood concern himself with fans who misunderstand and misuse his work? If he, intentionally or not, makes a hero out of Kyle- who, bare minimum, was a racist who took pleasure in dehumanising and killing brown people- is he responsible for validating racism, murder, and dehumanisation? Is he a propagandist if people use his work as propaganda? That question came to the fore last week on Twitter when several liberal journalists drew attention to Kyle's less Oscar-worthy statements . "Chris Kyle boasted of looting the apartments of Iraqi families in Fallujah," wrote author and former Daily Beast writer Max Blumenthal . "Kill every male you see," Rania Khalek quoted, calling Kyle an "American psycho" . Retaliation from the rightwing twittersphere was swift and violent, as Khalek documented in an exhaustive (and exhausting) post at Alternet . "Move your America hating ass to Iraq, let ISIS rape you then cut your cunt head off, fucking media whore muslim," wrote a rather unassuming-looking mom named Donna . "Rania, maybe we to take you ass overthere and give it to ISIS... Dumb bitch," offered a bearded man named Ronald , who enjoys either bass fishing or playing the bass (we may never know) . "Waterboarding is far from torture," explained an army pilot named Benjamin, all helpfulness . "I wouldn't mind giving you two a demonstration." The patriots go on, and on and on . They cannot believe what they are reading . They are rushing to the defence of not just Kyle, but their country, what their country means . They call for the rape or death of anyone ungrateful enough to criticise American hero Chris Kyle . Because Chris Kyle is good, and brown people are bad, and America is in danger, and Chris Kyle saved us . The attitude echoes what Miller articulated about Kyle in her Salon piece : "his steadfast imperviousness to any nuance, subtlety or ambiguity, and his lack of imagination and curiosity, seem particularly notable" . There is no room for the idea that Kyle might have been a good soldier but a bad guy; or a mediocre guy doing a difficult job badly; or a complex guy in a bad war who convinced himself he loved killing to cope with an impossible situation; or a straight-up serial killer exploiting an oppressive system that, yes, also employs lots of well-meaning, often impoverished, non-serial- killer people to do oppressive things over which they have no control . Or that Iraqis might be fully realised human beings with complex inner lives who find joy in food and sunshine and family, and anguish in the murders of their children . Or that you can support your country while thinking critically about its actions and its citizenry . Or that many truths can be true at once . Always meet your heroes .

SOLUTION: In his memoir, Kyle reportedly described killing as "fun", something he "loved"

PROBLEM: Let the Iraqi Army have its day. On January 6, Iraq will hold its annual Army Day parade in Baghdad . The ceremony evokes mixed feelings amongst Iraqis : after all ,  the parade marches under massive crossed swords wielded by giant bronze hands modelled on those of Saddam Hussein himself . For the Kurds it is an ominous ritual, a leftover from an era when Baghdad's military power far outstripped that of the Kurds and when Iraqi state power was used ruthlessly against northern rebellions . The stronger the Iraqi army gets, the Kurds reckon, the more chance it will be used against Kurdistan again . Iraq's Sunnis were the leading force within the Iraqi army since its foundation on January 6, 1921 . In general ,  the Sunnis fondly remember the pre-2003 army as a national institution of unrivalled prestige but view today's Iraqi army as a weak shadow of its former self, dominated by Shia officers . The views of Iraq's Shia community may be more complex . Before 2003, the Iraqi military was regularly used as a tool of oppression against the Iraqi Shia , yet many older Shia also remember the army as a symbol of modernity and Arab nationalist pride . With a Shia-led government in Baghdad, young Shia were beginning to recognise the army as a friendly institution . The collapse of Iraqi army divisions in northern and western Iraq in June 2014 dented the army's reputation, with recent victories being credited to the predominately-Shia popular mobilisation militias (al-Hashd al-Shaabi) or else the tiny cadre of special forces - the so-called Golden Division . This is a critical year for the Iraqi army , which is in danger of losing its status as the nation's premier armed force . In 2009, when the US-led"train and equip" effort reached its zenith, the Iraqi army fielded 55 combat brigades with approximately 210,000 troops . The Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MoI) fielded around 30 smaller brigades, totaling around 120,000 troops . Today the Iraqi army fields 40 weak brigades with a total combat strength of around 48,000 troops . In contrast ,  the MoI survived the summer comparatively well and now fields 24 brigades, totaling around 36,000 troops . The gap has narrowed between the two security ministries . In addition to the army and MoI, there are two other security forces that are on the rise . One is the Popular Mobilisation forces , which seem to field approximately 100,000 troops, including a well-trained offensive cadre of around 20,000 fighters . The final potential force is the National Guard that is being considered as an option by Iraqi politicians . This force would, in theory, be trained, equipped and paid by the federal government, whilst being recruited and operated by the provincial councils . In a step towards this concept, a 5,000-strong US-equipped Tribal Security Force brigade has been provided with $13.5 million worth of US weapons and training in the new US Department of Defense budget . It is now up to Iraq's government whether the country will pay these troops as part of the first National Guard units in the forthcoming 2015 budget . It is also unclear exactly which ministry would administer the training, equipping and paying of National Guard troops: the US-backed Ministry of Defense (MoD) under Minister Khalid al-Ubeidi, a Sunni from Mosul, or the MoI, led by Badr leader Mohammed Ghabban, a close lieutenant of Badr leader Hadi al-Amiri . The scheme could become a way of permanently employing the Popular Mobilisation forces in the National Guard units of the predominately-Shia southern provinces . With the Kurdish Peshmerga representing another large force of around 54 brigades with 113,000 troops, the Iraqi army is thus on-track to become one of the smaller security forces in Iraq . In 2015, the army's performance and the international support provided to Iraq's MoD will be critical factors in determining the future of this proud institution . In the background, the slow process of rebuilding the army has already begun . New half-manned brigades are popping up at training bases in Nasiriya, Kirkush and at the collection points for the shattered army divisions across north- central Iraq . More units will follow in the coming months . Meanwhile a US-funded $1.6 billion train and equip programme will aim to produce a further nine full-strength Iraqi army brigades in 2015, adding a further 45,000 troops to the army and nearly doubling its frontline combat strength . (Three Peshmerga brigades or 15,000 troops will also be re-equipped under the programme) . The first of 250 US-provided Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have arrived in Iraq, sent directly by the United States at no cost from Afghanistan . Another 3,496 tactical vehicles (Hummers, trucks, fuel tankers and engineering vehicles) will also be provided to the Iraqi army cost-free by the US military , and Iraq will probably buy a further 1,000 newly-built M1151A1 up-armoured Hummers in 2015 . If the US follows through on its pledges of training and equipment , the Iraqi army could survive its disastrous year in 2014 and play a key role in the struggle to evict Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces from cities like Mosul, Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah . The Iraqi army can draw on some illustrious history . In 1973, it deployed 18,000 troops with 300 tanks to save Damascus during the "October War" : this feat, mustering and moving an army 1,200km in just six days, remains deeply impressive . Iraq's five lightning offensives in April, May and June of 1988 shattered the Iranian army and were textbook examples of planning and execution . If the Iraqi army can be rebuilt with Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political support , and if the well-led Ministry of Defense can guide the National Guard initiative , the coming year could witness new Iraqi army victories at Mosul . Successful operations undertaken by this national institution, with deep roots in the Iraq's history, will be far more beneficial to the country than victories scored solely by Shia militias or local Sunni uprisings, either of which could further fracture Iraq .

SOLUTION: On January 6, Iraq will hold its annual Army Day parade in Baghdad

PROBLEM: Treating Africans with an untested Ebola drug. It was reported in The Guardian last week that Emergency, an Italian NGO, administered an untested heart drug known as Amiodarone, to patients at an Ebola treatment centre in Lakka, Sierra Leone . The British medics sent to work at the centre raised alarm as early as November about Emergency's approaches to palliative care . Amiodarone, a drug licenced to regulate the heartbeat, has never been tested outside of a lab setting to treat humans or animals infected with Ebola . It was neither approved by the Sierra Leonean health ministry nor listed among the 53 drugs that have an antiviral effect on Ebola . In a report to UK Med, the British healthcare professionals argued that "the toxic side effects of Amiodarone could in fact be contributing to increased morbidity within the ETC [ebola treatment centre]" . While the mortality rate at Emergency's centre is disputed - ranging from 58 and 67 percent - the death rate at centres run by Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), for instance, ranges from 50 and 60 percent . Most alarming is the concern that foreign-run Ebola treatment centres could be using unorthodox testing methods with impunity . Emergency's use of Amiodarone without a proper clinical trial or patient consent prompted censure from a senior scientist about the recklessness of this approach and a walk-out over safety fears by the UK health workers sent to work at the treatment centre . Apparently, the NGO stopped using the drug after receiving a request from the Department of International Development (DFID) , which had been alerted by the British medics . When rumours circulated early-on during the Ebola outbreak, that the virus was a form of bio warfare , critics were quick to label these ideas "conspiracy theories" . Yet ,  fears about western medicine being used to harm are neither irrational nor far-fetched . As unconscionable as Emergency's practices appear , there is a long history of unethical drug testing on poor and vulnerable communities across the globe . Perhaps one of the most famous cases of unethical experimental treatment was in 1932 when Public Health Service in the United States began the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" at a time when there was no known cure for syphilis . The study initially included 600 black men - 399 with and 201 without syphilis  - most of whom were poor and illiterate sharecroppers enticed with incentives such as free medical exams, meals on examination days, and promises that their relatives would receive burial stipends in the event of their deaths . The men were deceived into thinking that they were being treated for "bad blood" . They neither received proper treatment nor were they informed of the true nature of the study . Instead of lasting for six months, as originally projected, the study went on for 40 years . When penicillin was developed to treat syphilis in 1947 , treatment was withheld from all 600 subjects . In 1973, a class action suit was filed on behalf of the men in the study and settled out of court for $9 million . Similar experiments were held in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948 , when Public Health Service infected 1,610 total soldiers, female commercial sex workers, prisoners and mental health patients with one of three sexually transmitted diseases - syphilis, gonorrhoea, or chancroid . Like the Tuskegee experiment, none of the human subjects were informed about the nature of the study , nor did they give consent . Unlike the Tuskegee study, however, patients in Guatemala were eventually inoculated with penicillin though it is unclear how many were actually cured . Although vulnerable adult populations have borne the brunt of unethical medical testing , children have not been spared . In the mid-nineties, the world's largest research-based drug company, Pfizer, administered the experimental drug, Trovan, during a meningitis outbreak in Kano in northern Nigeria . The parents of eleven children who died sued Pfizer , alleging that Trovan was used without their informed consent . Pfizer eventually settled out of court in 2009, promising to pay the Kano state government $75 million . For too long, the bodies of poor and vulnerable communities have been exploited to serve the medical fetishes of big pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and Western governments . Yet ,  there is a growing tide against this warped practice . In his 2014 Reith lecture series entitled 'The Future of Medicine', renowned surgeon, writer and public health researcher Dr Atul Gawande argued convincingly that the well- being of a patient is more important than his/her "health" . Therefore ,  the goal of medical practice should be "caring", and not simply "curing" . In the age of Ebola, it appears that the single-minded pursuit to "cure" has somehow superseded the Hippocratic Oath to which doctors must adhere to "do no harm" . The sudden race to find an antidote for Ebola- a disease that has been around since 1976- must not serve as an excuse to experiment on patients whose internal organs are at risk of shutting down . Unethical drug testing must be matched with harsh punishment, now and after Ebola . We must insist on a probe of the dubious treatment regime adopted by the Italian NGO Emergency, followed by criminal prosecution in the event of malpractice . They must answer to patients at the Lakka treatment centre in Sierra Leone .

SOLUTION:
It was reported in The Guardian last week that Emergency, an Italian NGO, administered an untested heart drug known as Amiodarone, to patients at an Ebola treatment centre in Lakka, Sierra Leone Amiodarone, a drug licenced to regulate the heartbeat, has never been tested outside of a lab setting to treat humans or animals infected with Ebola