Iraq: The Game

If you missed it, this cover story in the NYT Mag a week ago was surprisingly informative for coverage of America’s war in Iraq.

It outlines in disturbing detail how soldiers of fortune — oh sorry, I mean "private military companies" — oops, I meant "private security companies" or "P.S.C.’s" —  have come to play a major, central and surreal role in our foreign adventure.

What I couldn’t decide about, however, were Nathan Fox’s illustrations.  (The top image was on the cover, and the snippet below was from a longer panel inside.)  Certainly, they earn a plus for capturing attention.  On the other hand, they essentially turn this private war into a screen shot from a video game and a couple of comic book clippings. 

From that perspective, don’t they just make these mercenaries look cool (glamorizing Bush’s folly to a younger demographic) and trivializing a war that could hardly get more abstract? 

 

(You can see more illustrations, and read the article here.)

(Autoposted for your review while the BAG is taking a hike.)

(illustrations: Nathan Fox. NYT Magazine. August 14, 2005.)