Russian Media Links Modern Warfare 2 and Airport Terror Attack
Russia Today, one of the media companies serving the Russian market, has aired a report which links the blockbuster first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from Infinity Ward and Activision with the terrorist attack that has struck the Domodedovo Airport, leaving at least 35 dead and many more severely injured.
The report shown below links the attack with the No Russian level, where the player is asked to go deep undercover in a nationalistic terrorist organization and attack a fictional airport in Moscow in order to provoke a certain reaction from Russian authorities.
When the game was released in 2009, the level provoked a lot of controversy in the media and among gamers, with some saying that the killing of civilians is an act which should not be included in a video game.
The level does not ask the player to actually take part in the killing of civilians, but he is forced to watch and cannot do anything to stop the massacre.
The report also quoted Walid Phares, who is the director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stating, “Indeed it is a trouble to look at the game and reality. The issue is we need to know if terrorists or extremists are using these videos or DVDs or games to basically apply the model.”
He added, “I think those who have been radicalized already - that is supposed in this case jihadists, Al-Qaeda, or other kind - they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train.”
Given the limited level of realism included in the Call of Duty series, declining with each new installment, it's unlikely that any terrorist would use it for training when alternatives like ArmA 2 are available.
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