Just a short update: The war has barely started and an Iraq version of Command and Conquer is already available! Apparently the SNAGs (sensitive, new-age Germans) have banned it from shop shelves
It's a War on Terror edition, unfortunately, but it could keep your kids happy while they wait for the full Gulf War II version, which should be out in a couple of weeks.
CNet reports: “The game, Command & Conquer Generals, depicts an animated siege of Baghdad, with the United States military battling a fictional terrorist group called the Global Liberation Army, which bombs the city with missiles carrying anthrax, killing civilians.”
Even in C&C Retaliation, the version I have, you get all these civilians running around in the middle of the battles, trying to do pointless stuff like farming. If you don’t pay attention your troops start wandering off to massacre them, so I guess it’s pretty realistic.
But in the real world close supervision won’t help. According to the SMH “They [US troops] have new orders to treat Iraqi civilians, including women and children, as hostile until proven otherwise.”
Art imitating life in the cause of democracy, truth, justice and the American way.
Also in a new development the US has stopped reporting it's own casualties, according to the NY Times.
"General Brooks declined to comment on the number of United States casualties in the war and explicitly said the military would not provide numbers. 'As a matter of practice, we just aren't going to announce numbers of casualties.' "
They were reporting these casualties relatively freely early on (when they thought it was all going to be over in a week,) so you can rest assured they have now taken some hits. The Iraqis are promising to show the destruction of 12 US tanks and armoured vehicles on TV.