WAR -- IS IT REALLY LIKE A VIDEO GAME: HEADLINES SAY SO!

VIRTUAL REALITY PREPARES SOLDIERS FOR REAL WAR (according to a recent headline in the "Washington Post" This blogger can't position it better than to give you the first two paragraphs of this story running in the WASHINGTON POST:

One blistering afternoon in Iraq, while fighting insurgents in the northern town of Mosul, Sgt. Sinque Swales opened fire with his .50-cal. That was only the second time, he says, that he ever shot an enemy. A human enemy It felt like I was in a big video game. It didn't even faze me, shooting back. It was just natural instinct. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! " remembers Swales, a fast-talking, deep-voiced, barrel-chested 29-year-old from Chesterfield, Va. He was a combat engineer in Iraq for nearly a year. A MARINE MOM HAS A BETTER IDEAplay it from home....a google search on the subject of "war as a video game" came up with a post from a Marine mom called Cindie who suggests that the Marines become more 'mom-friendly" and just let the guys and gals 'phone it in via high-speed from home'. Fascinating and humorous post...Josh is leaving to go back to C.P. on mothers day. How sad is that? I wish the Marine Corp could be a little more mother friendlier.Why cant we keep them home? We can train them at home. Kind of like working out of their homes. The Corp.can mail us all the training manuals.We can send them on fishing trips for survival training.The Corp.could even send MRE`s so us moms didn`t have to cook all the time.I could get in Josh`s face and yell at him from time to time.When it came time for deployment it would mean you are challenging your opponent to war like video gameAll done from the comforts of your home.Just a thought.Cyndie (Here's the link to that forum post--Marine Moms and Dads: Welcome to MarineParents.com: A Place to ....

And from the other side of the world in India comes this post:

Simulated war games Economic Times, India - Feb 25, 2006 ... And the best part is that when you’re actually out on the field, fighting a war, it sometimes feels like a video game. ... And although when the US Army first set up it's video game studio back in 2002 it drew some tough headlines: BBC NEWS | Technology | US Army video game draws flak you can now find a full environment/virtual web-based environment on the US Army website: www.america'sarmy.com. (photo shows screenshot from the America's army video game showing surgery on location near a battlefield). In real life, reporters on real TV say it's very hard to gain access to hospitals and field medical stations. So this may be as close as you'll get to seeing this kind of scene --hopefully!. America's Army - Special Forces - Home Page America's Army, the Official US Army Game (AA), provides young Americans with a virtual web-based environment in which they can explore Army career ... www.americasarmy.com/ - 20k - Feb 24, 2006 - Cached - Similar pages ACTION FIGURE -- US VETERAN MODEL Oregon veteran is called to duty — as action figure. According to a report By SUSAN PALMER The (Eugene) Register-Guard EUGENE, Ore. — Staff Sgt. Matthew Zedwick is not for sale, but a reasonable facsimile of him soon will be. The Oregon Army National Guard member is one of nine Iraq war veterans who will be used as models for a new line of collectible action figures the U.S. Army is creating. He will also be seen (or a reasonable fascimile in the America's Army next video game version.