The highly successful and controversial film American Sniper was recently removed from the only theater in Iraq that chose to screen it, only a week after the initial release. The film, after a few successful initial screenings, was removed from the theater list indefinitely after a call from a senior government official at the Ministry of Culture threatened fines and a total shut down of the Iraqi theater.

According to the owner of the theater, Fares Hilal, the Iraqi people wanted to watch American Sniper, but, faced with losing his business, Hilal had no choice but to pull the film. “If we show it, we will be criticized. But if we don’t, we lose money.” Hilal describes, “A lot of people wanted to see this film.” His six screen theater in Baghdad is an American model, popcorn included. If Hilal were to continue to screen this film, his customers might be happy but he fears that would be the last movie they watch there.

The Iraqi government official cited the insulting and exploiting nature of the film as the primary reason for response to the movie being shown in Iraq. The first viewings of the film were filled with excitement, causing Hilal to be confused as to why the movie needed to be removed. When approached with the question of how they felt about the film, there were no comments on racism or the dehumanization of Muslims or Islamists. Instead, one moviegoer stated that the movie American Sniper gave him the strength to conquer ISIS. Another was only bothered by the fact that the sniper knew nothing of the Quran. The entire crowd yelled “Just shoot him!” when the sniper was hesitating on shooting the child holding the rocket-propelled grenade. These comments were only collected from those who attended the screening of the film while available. There are several others who would disagree, both in Iraq and the United States.

American Sniper is breaking records on U.S. soil, being nominated for six Oscar awards and totaling over $36 million in the box offices. Some say all this success is a result of well-crafted American war propaganda. The film is based on the true story of a decorated Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle. The most dangerous SEAL sniper in history after completing four tours of duty, Chris Kyle had 160 confirmed kills, according to the Pentagon. His SEAL team says the true number comes closer to double that.

The controversy surrounding the Oscar-nominated film is rooted in the idea of celebrating the career of a sniper. Some call is U.S. war propaganda, others highlight the films blatant dehumanization of Iraqis as a race, not as terrorists. Celebrities Michael Moore and Seth Rogan called the gunman a coward and compared the movie to Nazi propaganda while Army veteran and country star Craig Morgan stand up for the movie and what it represents for himself and soldiers across the nation. Reactions in the U.S. span the spectrum, as they did in Iraq before the film was forcibly removed.