How the military is seducing our youth into war.

The Army got into the game business when it released America's Army in July 2002, essentially as an interactive Army recruitment ad. The game is available for download free, and 3.4 million gamers have registered to play it.

To build on that success, the America's Army Government Applications office was quietly opened in January in Cary, North Carolina, with a team of 15 video-game creators, simulation specialists and ex-Army personnel. Many of the studio's employees come from local video-game companies like Interactive Magic, Timeline, Vertis, SouthPeak Interactive, Vicious Cycle Software and Red Storm Entertainment.

This is an older story that I suddenly remembered reading about last night.

It is important for parents to be aware that our government is using every means necessary to continue to find bodies to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. When they decide to attack Iran they will need even more. These games make war seem like fun. A harmless adrenaline rush that can convince young men, especially, into believing that war is comfortable and fun just like it was in their parents living rooms at home.

If you have children I would suggest you start talking to them of your concerns about the war and maybe have them sit and watch a couple of movies like "Private Ryan" or "Blackhawk Down" which treats the reality of war with much more seriousness. If this administration cannot find more people to throw on the "War on Terror" pyre they will have to start really negotiating instead of just puffing up their chests and sending our children to their deaths.

There is an updated story here.

Unable to get the necessary recruits for the military the old-fashioned way, the U.S. Army has sunk $16 million into a government-sponsored video game that blurs the line between fantasy and the reality of war.

The taxpayer-financed "America's Army" is so clever a mind game that even the military folks behind it get a little confused when talking it up. Time magazine said Major Chris Chambers, deputy director of the video's development team, had to stop and correct himself when he called the violence, combat and "death animation" in the game "real." "It's not real; it's simulated. But we're simulating reality," he said.

Got that?

The computer-based video game was rolled out as a recruitment and training tool -- primarily recruitment -- on July 4, 2002. And players can click a button in the game menu and go directly to an Army recruiting Web site, Time reports.

Scared yet? Yeah me too!