Bombs Over Baghdad

Frank was sitting on his cousin's bed with the controller in his hand.

"Dude, I'm loaded down with cluster bombs. That's why I'm moving so slow." I looked. Underneath the loadout of the plane was nothing but orange, indicating a slew of guided or unguided bombs.

"Why the fuck did you not get the 2000 pounders? And Napalm? Dude. You can fuck shit up with the NAPALM." I stressed the last word. Having never seen what the substance can do in real life, I was perfectly overjoyed at the thoughts of its destructive capabilities in a simulated universe.

"Naawww dude. Have you seen what cluster bombs do? They fuck shit up gooood......." The F-15 strike eagle climbed from 200 to 4,000 feet, getting ready to drop its loadout on the unsuspecting blue team. I edged closer, something about the wait to deliver impending doom strikes a giddy nerve. A sequential set of ooohs and the tensing of the nerves get set into motion and I am merely watching my friend play the game. Is there something sexual about sending pixelated characters to hell?

"Six seconds." He drops the loadout and banks left moving the right thumbstick to look at the blue base's tower. The detail is incredible. You can look all around the cockpit in this game and get a view of the inside and outside of the plane. All the instruments that you see in all the movies (or if you were ever fortunate to sit in the cockpit of an actual fighter plane) are there and fully functional. Looking out, you can see the ocean with the waves licking the coast of the blue base and the lights of the runway illuminating the path. I am not watching the waves or the runway. I am looking at the tower off to the right. In six seconds we will see the fireworks of death and destruction.

"Boom bitches!" The corner of the screen you can see the little balls of light lighting up in sequential order causing blue teams meter to drop down a few notches. I am smiling and loving the view.

I remember those nights in March 2003 lying on my cot at a Kuwaiti air base. During the initial war in Iraq, possessing these bases gave us an unmatched air superiority. Trips during the day showed Marine strength in the form of Cobra attack helicopters. I believe that the Air Force had their planes somewhere around the base and our Harriers were floating somewhere around as well. Close to midnight, we were used to sleeping in our MOPP gear which was suppose to protect of from biological and chemical attacks. Everyone was filled with anticipation for the war to pick up. Thank years of training and a lifestyle that encouraged efficient killing and systematic destroying of thyne enemies. You only have a pinpoint perspective in this environment and if I knew what I know now, I might have thought a little differently about those sounds.

The late night shrieks of the jets taking off and flying over our area made everyone giddy.

"Someone's going to get fucked up." Swarr sat up in his cot in the dark next to mine.
I couldn't sleep as well. "Fuck yeah."
Shuffling in the dark from the other cots shown interest in the sounds which were now more numerous and at an almost constant rate. The Iraqi army was never known for their elite pilots. Our guys were drop a whole lot of bad fucking news on someone. So sure and proud we were in arrogance and apathy.

"OOOhhhh shit." A giggle from someone at the other end produced other giddy chuckles from others. Another planes shoots lower and rattles the hooch we are all staying in.



Watching Frank blow the shit out of someone's base with simulated thousand pound bombs makes me think a little of that time in the sandbox, but these thoughts are brushed to the side pretty quickly. They appear as nothing but a brief flash and reminder of what was.

I don't agree with blowing the shit out of someone with ordinance raining down from the sky anymore as new perspective in my age starts to take over. A life that once was is replaced with a life that understands and knows. Am I going to buy this game that makes me all giddy? Fuck yeah.* Am I going to ever endorse a authentic pilot blowing the living hell out of a target without thinking twice about the implications and ramification on those people below? No. I'm glad I'm not them and glad that what I'm just seeing is just a game.





*Note-$250 bones shy of that X-box 360. "She will be mine.....Oh yes, she will be mine."