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Sunday, April 22, 2007

Playing Games With Our Defense

The Army is sponsoring a computer game to reach young men who might be good recruits. But "anti-war" groups are upset:


Anti-recruitment groups are slamming a US Army deal to sponsor a computer war game channel, charging that real war is no game.


This story just offends me on so many levels.

One, young men are precisely who the Army needs. Who the heck do these anti-war groups think the Army should target for recruiting? Pacifist vegan lesbians?

Second, with modern weapons stations, video game skills are actually a valuable skill for the armed forces.

Third, when our enemies recruit using videos of beheadings, attacks on enemies, and "martyr" testimonials recorded before they blew themselves up, don't complain about a video game. If these people are anti-war and not just anti-American, why couldn't they focus on enemy recruiting rather than trying to harm our efforts to wage war against horrible enemies? Why are all their anti-recruiting efforts focused on our people?

Fourth, it annoys me to no end that these types of "dissenters" absolutely count on their efforts to fail. That is, if they ever succeeded in crippling recruiting so we could not defend ourselves, the society that protects their right to dissent so vigorously that it borders on acting as an agent of the enemy to harm our war effort would itself be damaged. Damaged to the point that they could not freely act any more. This is true whether one assumes the jihadis gain power around the globe or just succeed in hitting us at home which would prompt the destruction of civil rights as we try to stop attacks on our people.

Maybe these anti-recruiting people should be forced to see jihadi videos that show exactly what the jihadis intend for us if they defeat us. These anti-war types never show the ugly side of losing to fanatical enemies who oppose everything our society stands for.

And fifth, the Army never tried to hide the cost of war when it trained me. All that gas mask training and first aid training made it rather clear that people would shoot at us and that dying was a real possibility. Oh, and the rifle they trained me to use? That was a big clue, too. There was a lot of emphasis on keeping our damn heads down so they wouldn't get blown off. The Army knows what war is and doesn't need a bunch of idiot "pacifists" to tell them that war is not a game.

Hey, anti-recruiting numnuts, listen up. Anti-war activities are not a game. Your activities, if successful, would lead to real people here and abroad getting killed and abused. You "anti-war" people should thank American and allied soldiers, Marines, sailors, and airmen every day. They protect your ability to spout utter, self-destructive, nonsense without paying any penalty.

Good God, my contempt for these "anti-war" people is complete.