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A Gaming War Between Islam and the West?
The Washington Post has up an article looking at a burgeoning venue for political expression: gaming. Between 'The Quest for Bush', Counter-Strike mods, and more serious titles with a political slant, the political arena is quickly claiming gamers for their own. It's not just politics either; there are some excellent titles being released that attempt some truly insightful social commentary. From the article: "'UnderAsh,' released by Afkar Media in 2002, views the first intifada from the eyes of Ahmad, a Palestinian teenager resisting the Israeli occupation. Last year a sequel was released. A teaser to 'UnderSiege,' which tells the stories of five Palestinian families during the second intifada, shows a Palestinian teenager being shot on the street; an Israeli soldier appears to pound him with a concrete block seconds later. 'Our games are not propaganda,' Kasmiya says. 'Our games are a reflection of our history -- past or present. The fact is, most movies, most TV shows, most video games put Muslims in a bad light, so we have to try to tell our side of the story.'" Commentary from GamePolitics is also available.
"> As I recall, that conflict came to an end through negotiation and diplomacy.
And negotiation and diplomacy became possible when state sponshorship of the terrorists ended. Negotiation became possible when both sides were actually able to engage in diplomacy, when anyone on the IRA side who suggested out loud that compromise might be a good idea didn't get a quick death.
I suspect that if we leaned REAL hard (as in cut the crap or we allow Israel to bomb your sorry asses from the 7th century all the way back to the stone age) on Syria, Iran, Saudia Arabia, etc. to cut off Hamas and Fatah cold, they too would soon come to the bargaining table in good faith and that a lasting peace would suddenly become possible where none can currently be imagined. Same for Lebanon. Same for Iraq."
Yeah. Right. The West's history of bombing the hatred out of the middle east has worked *REALLY* well up until now. Are you really so blind that you fail to realise that what you propose as a radical new plan is pretty much a continuation of the approach Israel has been taking with their neighbours for decades now? To NO avail.
Terrorism is not a country. You cannot wage war on it - it doesn't have a captial, a state, a flag, a uniform. Terrorism is borne out of hatred and fear and desperation. You cannot bomb the hatred out of people, you just create new martyrs you complete and utter idiot.
And for your fucking information, the IRA did not compromise because of an ending of "state sponshorship of the terrorists". For a start, most of their funding came from the US in the first place, but secondly and to the point - the IRA came to compromise because Ireland started doing very well economically. When your stomachs are full, there's work for those who want it and your people are busy engaging with the rest of the world, your will to fight goes. You can't bomb the hatred out of people, but you can very easily dispell hatred and fear by engaging with your "enemy" and treating them like human beings (which you clearly have forgotten that they are)