This winter is past and spring is in full bloom (at least here in Southern Indiana!) It’s been an interesting and disturbing year, so far. The War on Terror continues - I guess - and the world looks less safe every day. As a wargamer I think we are living in the time that future wargame scenarios are being actually lived. The US war in Afghanistan shows just underlines a whole series of wars starting with the 1975 Civil War in Lebanon where in civil society in the Middle East breaks down under the strain of the modern world. Modern weapons in the hands of independent militia’s often lead by radical (one could fairly say) bug eyed leaders stand up against the world. A true David and Goliath story. I am personally very interested in gaming this period. It will not be a nice period. Certainly the wounds are very raw on both sides. Some people (maybe most) will come to the games with a definite idea about who the good guys and bad guys are. Speaking as a Muslim and an American who is good and who is bad is not at all clear to me. Which is why I think these games would work. I don’t always like to teach lessons in games but I think that wargaming modern Middle Eastern situations would. We in the West are Goliath but we see ourselves as David. There is no doubt that the West (the USA in particular) can win any fight we start - at least in terms of guns. What I think the games could show is how mere military victory does not win this kind of war. Short of genocide (which given that Muslims make up 25% of the worlds population and 1% of the US population makes the goal impossible as well as immoral) we in the West will have to learn a new way to wage war. Matrix Games are uniquely suited to simulate this kind of war. I am pleased that the Australian and British military are doing just that. If games can help then I hope these do. Back to Table of Contents -- Matrix Gamer #29 To Matrix Gamer List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Chris Engle. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com