Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes: «ISIS» Carries Out the Plans of the Famous Military Game Call of Duty

Friday, 18 March 2016.

The famous military game Call of Duty, played online and on PlayStation, first released several years ago with its latest release in 2012, is a fertile field distilling military operations and the sound planning and execution of battles that simulate the reality of war and combat in the countries of the Middle East, with the aim of achieving victory in all environments and all circumstances.

Dave Anthony, of English origin – director and writer of the famous American game «Call of Duty», which achieved unprecedented success in the world of games – excelled in designing this game, known for its fiction built on what happens on the battlefield in terms of brutal killing and total destruction.

He managed to include in the game many future security scenarios through his ability to predict the future of wars, drawing on past lessons and experiences and on the battles fought by American soldiers and members of SWAT teams designed for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, which made the game a kind of map of future wars in the form of a science-fiction film.

The game includes war plans and troop movements in different environments in terms of weather and temperature and how to control people, or in terms of the nature of the terrain, rivers and rugged mountain areas.

The game relies on good planning and execution through close cooperation between teams, or «squads», with individual action reserved for suicide bombing only. It also covers movement and skill in the field, use of the terrain, optimal use of small, light vehicles fitted with guns, cooperation between ground groups, infantry and sweeps, and between air and naval forces, coordinating cooperation and reinforcing the battle.

The game also includes radar, surveillance, recording and filming techniques, landing and dropping from aircraft onto positions, and digging tunnels, while broadcasting news and images through various media.

What is striking is that the new release of the game includes the methods of execution and beheading used by ISIS, as well as hanging, suspending by the legs and the torture practiced by the soldiers in the game, and it includes the latest and most precise types of weapons, sniping, equipment and night-vision scopes.

All this led the American Atlantic Council, a decision-making center, to bring the game's designer on board; the Council regards him as an important strategic planner of many wars, all of them in the virtual world of games.

The Council was founded in 1960, focuses on the affairs of NATO countries and largely represents American foreign policy; its past and present members include Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice and Chuck Hagel, along with many members of Barack Obama's administration. The Council held several seminars at which Anthony spoke about the future of wars in the world and his vision based on the design of that game.

The game set out a form for the coming cold wars, which its designer predicted would be between China and America in 2025, relying on electronic warfare using insect-sized micro-drones capable of facial recognition, and on advances in artificial intelligence. This vision points to the shape of future wars through virtual wars that rely on the information network and the use of information weapons, and to the difficulty of countering such wars in the future unless preparations are made for them now. One notes the enormous development and mindset of ISIS members in terms of cultural level and education, their command of computers and social networks, and their filming and creative directing to send their message to the world and to young people, with its unlimited influence. This did not come out of nowhere, but from training, communication, scenarios and matches that ISIS members hold with one another or with others on the internet and with participants in such matches, through which they also send messages. One also notes the efficiency of execution and field management, which appears professional, with the role of each member defined, and that most ISIS members wear military uniforms and the latest equipment, just like the elements of the famous game.

What draws attention most in this game is its intense racism, which pits white American soldiers against non-white foreigners, communists and Arabs.

Even if this may seem to some to have no influence, we should revisit the film «American Disturbance», produced in 97, which predicted the hijacking of planes and their use in terrorist operations as happened in September 2011. In addition, American army soldiers are very keen on using the game, not only for entertainment but to improve and develop their communication skills as a team and to help learn how to save the lives of their members.

A BBC report indicated that the propaganda messages put out by the Islamic State to recruit fighters stress that fighting alongside the Islamic State is more fun than the American game «Call of Duty», and a New York Times report noted that the organization's propaganda videos show it is heavily influenced by the game. We believe that the imagination and illusion of ISIS are far greater than its real strength, but they are what drives the spread of its news to every corner of the world.