News: Pwning those Taliban n00bs

An article from the Washington Post highlights the intense urban combat in Marja. I thought this quote was interesting:

After Thursday's attack, which lasted 90 minutes before a volley of mortar shells and rockets presumably wiped out the insurgents who had been shooting, the Marines returned to their designated corners of the base in the darkness. Dinner was cold, and the cards were scattered. But nobody cared. All they wanted to do was talk about the fighting, and the one Marine who had been wounded by a Taliban sniper.

"This is better than 'Call of Duty,' " said Lance Cpl. Paul Stephens, 20, of Corona, Calif., referring to a series of shoot-'em-up video games.

The use of video games as a tool for increasing enlistment was once derided as a fad ("America's Army," anyone?). But the armed forces have gotten better and better at it:

Of course, it's easy to sell the experience when it's all shooting terrorists and blowing stuff up with tanks. I imagine the Marines in the WaPo piece sound excited because military life is more like this:

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks