Virtual Jihadi mod causing tension at New York school
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Mar 4th 2008 at 4:55PM }
A political art exhibit at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) utilizing a modded version of Quest for Saddam is causing a stir with RPI's College Republicans. The installation, which opens tomorrow night, called "The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi," takes an al-Qaeda mod of the Saddam game and gives it a more nuanced feel according to the artist. In the mod, created by Iraqi-born artist Wafaa Bilal, players are cast in the role of a suicide bomber recruited by al-Qaeda.Bilal says, "This work is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war." The College Republicans say that the RPI Arts Department is "a terrorist safehaven." If people are interested in checking this out for themselves, the exhibit starts tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 5) at 7PM in RPI's West Hall Auditorium in Troy, NY.
[Via GamePolitics]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr Khan @ Mar 4th 2008 5:01PM
Certainly not the brightest idea for PR purposes, but i had figured we had gotten beyond this post-9/11 paranoia
THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Mar 4th 2008 10:06PM
I wish we could... also alternate headline "Virtual Jihadi mod causing tension at Joystiq.com" I still love all of ya batshit crazy bastards! lol
Shignami @ Mar 4th 2008 5:01PM
So.... where do I download it?
maverick_saturn_626 @ Mar 4th 2008 5:03PM
Sounds pointless :S
Nigeria: the graphics have amazing gameplay @ Mar 4th 2008 5:03PM
Saddam a Jihadi?
And this kid is studying Political Science.
Deck @ Mar 4th 2008 5:09PM
"Saddam a Jihadi?
And this kid is studying Political Science."
QFE!
NATO_Duke @ Mar 4th 2008 5:12PM
Sorry, there was a misquote in there:
Bilal says, "This work is meant to bring attention to me in the eyes of the NSA and Homeland Security Department."
There ya go.
THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Mar 4th 2008 9:51PM
"...because the line they're walking is precariously close to the line that distinguishes dissent and treason." Like white house staff commiting an act of TREASON by giving up C.I.A agents identity?
Synner @ Mar 5th 2008 2:52AM
Except that it wasn't Scooter Libby asshat, it was Armitage, the judge knew all along it was Armitage, but he needed the high profile case. Read something besides a game manual once in a while.
gh0st @ Mar 4th 2008 5:14PM
"Saddam a Jihadi?"
Wee-bit of reading would do us all a huge benefit.
And we need many, many, MANY more things like this. One of the hallmark moments of my teenage development was reading Alls Quiet on the Western Front and the dawning on me about a 1/4 to 1/3 through the book that these were *German* soldiers. It was a watershed experience for me.
Only enlightenment and understanding can come out of looking at a situation from someone else's point of view (which is precisely why the conservatives are terrified of the practice and instead threaten of "sympathy" and other such assininity). Of course, forcing me to play an Elite did nothing but foster a seething hatred for them, so much that I would have turned and joined the Brutes if I could do it as the Cheif, so perhaps I am hoping for too much.
And based on the still-mired-in-utter-cowardice-and-disturbing-ignorance response of the college republicans, I likely am.
Still, nothing but a net gain will be appreciated from more and divergent views.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 5:22PM
Except more war and bloodshed. You know, because war isn't fought over agreements.
I'm tired of bleeding hearts blaming america for all the worlds problems. The war in iraq has benefited the Western world if only by giving the jihadists a target away from our cities. Never before has the whole world turned against and condemned terrorism, especially amongst the Arab states.
People like this "artists" should tread carefully, because the line they're walking is precariously close to the line that distinguishes dissent and treason.
deadatom @ Mar 4th 2008 5:42PM
hey krono... go fuck youreself.. you say he threads a find line between dissent and treason? well you know what i think.. i think people who are against FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION of others are the ones that are against the spirit of this great nation...
its like.. the pot calling the kettle black... but knowing conservatives.. they would call the kettle a ni**er..
J @ Mar 4th 2008 5:46PM
"I'm tired of bleeding hearts blaming america for all the worlds problems."
Not "America", Republicans.
"The war in iraq has benefited the Western world if only by giving the jihadists a target away from our cities."
Madrid and London would like to disagree with you on that one.
"Never before has the whole world turned against and condemned terrorism"
Since the declaration of the "War on terror" the number of terrorist strikes has increased 300x.
"People like this "artists" should tread carefully."
Yeah, because free speech is far more dangerous than the violence created by our actions throughout the globe.
Go ahead and keep cowaring in your basement, dude, but the rest of us have lives to live and freedoms to cherish. If you want a government that takes those freedoms away, than might I suggest a dictatorship in some 3rd world country?
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 5:58PM
Free speech this, free speech that.
Do you morons even know what free speech is, what is covered, and what is not protected? Do you even know what treason is?
No, this "mod" isn't helping anybody. All its doing is fostering sympathy for our enemies in your own nation. Thats sound pretty close to treason to me.
If the artist really wanted to help the situation, he'd make a mod showing that 90% of jihadists are poor illiterate Muslim men who are unable to distinguish between Koranic teachings and political rhetoric, and then maybe they'd be able to tell what a load of bullshit suicide bombing and 72 virgins really are.
But no, its a mod trying to get you sympathetic to the enemies cause. "They're only terrorists because we made them terrorists." Bullshit. They're terrorists because they're ignorant and easily exploitable, many times by the act of their own governments.
Al Qaeda stands in ruins, hardly capable of carrying out the attacks that hit London and Spain anymore. There's democracy blooming in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The number of deaths in Iraq has plummeted since the surge. Despite what the (biased liberal) media keeps trying to tell you, we are winning the war on terror. Most of the Arab world is on our side, with the exception of Iran and Syria, something that is unprecedented in the history of the Modern world.
But we're losing the war. Sure.
SID SPACE @ Mar 4th 2008 6:03PM
deadatom:
I agree that this guy should be able to freely express himself just as well as the next guy, but this is just tasteless.
It's like that Columbine game all over again. He may call it "art" or say that he's just exercising his freedom to express himself, but it's really just a tasteless attempt at getting attention. Which, unfortunately, he is now getting plenty of.
I think games like the pictured "Quest for Saddam" are just as tasteless and stupid as this mod. Neither one is something worthwhile or artistic. However, two wrongs don't make a right. Just because some stupid flag-waving hick made the Saddam game, doesn't mean this guy should enact some sort of vengeance by releasing his piece of crap. He'd be better off not stooping to their level. I mean, he is in college, shouldn't he be capable of countering the message that game sends in a more intelligent / less childish way?
Mr Khan @ Mar 4th 2008 7:37PM
I don't wish to interject myself into this, but treason is far too strong of a word to apply to what is going on here
According to precedent, any and all free expression, in written/televised form, is completely and totally protected, actions, however, are not, and words fall somewhere in between
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 10:31PM
Wow, I feel like I'm reading a Senator McCarthy speech all over again....
You go, Crono... end that red threat!
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 5th 2008 8:20AM
I'll take that as a compliment, as Senator McCarthy was proven to be right all along after documents recently got declassified.
Roxxorsmash @ Mar 6th 2008 11:04PM
Isn't all art working to undermine American freedom?
/sarcasm
Chris @ Mar 4th 2008 5:17PM
sounds to me like somebody got turned down for a date
LaughingTarget @ Mar 4th 2008 5:40PM
Jesus, when someone gets their panties in a bunch, it is always New York or California. Both political groups in these states need to pull the thong out of their crack and just leave each other alone. When it isn't some filthy hippy running around in the middle of the day, obviously living off my tax dollars, protesting this or that, it is some self-righteous prick trying to run our lives. We need to sell these two states and make America a better place.
License to ill @ Mar 4th 2008 5:47PM
Na to much good shit comes out of those two states, Id rather ignore the extreme nut jobs on both sides...
SID SPACE @ Mar 4th 2008 6:54PM
That would be a good start, but what about the ignorant South? If you took out Cali and NY, there would be no one to counter them.
(Notice I didn't say the entire South. I'm sure not everyone there is an ignorant hick, but generally that is where such types stem from.)
dan stabbingworth @ Mar 4th 2008 7:34PM
I've repeatedly suggested given Texas back to Mexico but nobody listens to reason these days. Sigh.
Delgado @ Mar 4th 2008 8:17PM
Generalizations are totally cool, and don't make you look ignorant at all.
...asinine fucks.
Shimrra @ Mar 4th 2008 5:44PM
To me this is just a like a bad joke. Some people may not like it but there is some out there that will laugh it because it is that bad.
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 10:45PM
To me, it seems like an interesting counterpoint. After all, it's USING a hatespeech filled product and returning the hatespeech in reverse. It's only offensive to people who cannot see the "turnabout" aspect of the project.
Personally, I'd like to see it just to see the gameplay mechanics and how he incorporated the message with the gameplay. Because if it's done poorly, the message loses it's ability to become a message. It then becomes poor art. Frankly, I don't see this mechanic being wildly different from the technique I use against dropships in Warhawk. I enjoy placing several land mines on my plain and fly it into that killrich objective. It will also be interesting to see if he can perform the rare feat of humanizing a video game instead of making it simple digital avatars amongst chaos.
bigsofty @ Mar 4th 2008 5:52PM
The guys an idiot, releasing this kinda crap in a country that has the parents of children who have been blown to bits by suicide bombers is asking for a lead suppository...
deadatom @ Mar 4th 2008 6:04PM
yeah ok... i guess all those evangelicals deserve a death to for that horrid left behind game thats given to our military...oh wait.. youre comment only applys to muslims making distasteful games with thier FREEDOM OF SPEECH that this country affords all people that live here..i guess you hate freedom of speech and will fight it to the death...
oh yeah btw... the only suicide bombers in the usa.. LOL.. you FAIL
steve @ Mar 4th 2008 5:55PM
@Chrono:
"I'm tired of bleeding hearts blaming america for all the worlds problems."
Yeah? Maybe America should stop stirring the shit maybe. You know that you practically BEGGED for 9/11 right?
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 6:02PM
Yeah, ok. We "begged" for 9/11.
If thats the case, then you can blame your shining best president ever Clinton, because it was his policies and (in)action that lead up to 9/11, not the Republican's/Bush.
So how is it we "begged" for 9/11? Spreading trade and democracy? Marginalized hardline psycho's worldwide? Maybe we "begged" for it by stirring up dissent in the countries that like to harbor terrorism, what with all our freedoms and prosperity and all.
Please. Get a new reason to hate America.
BigD145 @ Mar 4th 2008 8:10PM
Epic fail Crono. Bush was informed about possible airline hijackings being specifically used to take down infrastructure (buildings) inside US borders over 6 months before 9/11. Saddam was not mentioned and never has been except by every pundit and right wing f'tard that has been wrong on all accounts for the past few decades. As a result, airline security saw a decline right up to 9/11. Clinton was not in power during all of that.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 8:49PM
Look, I'm not the one who brought up 9/11 in the context of the war, but when some american hating jackass tries to claim we "begged" to have thousands of American Citizens killed on their own soil by a foreign entity, I'll show them the facts of the matter to get them to shut the fuck up.
And just how long was this terrorist cell operating in our country in order to carry out 9/11. I bet money it was long before bush got elected.
THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Mar 4th 2008 10:00PM
Whoa hey video game blog guys let it go. Begged for 9-11 I dont agree with your callous phrasing. Several other COLONIAL empires have also had there hand in middle eastern development. NO ONE DESERVES TO LOSE THEIR LIFE. Crono mate, things were fubar in the middle east way before clinton. Ugh this sort of disscussion belongs on game politics and it would suit many of you to use a more civil tone.
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 10:37PM
"So how is it we "begged" for 9/11?"
I would say TRAINING these men and organizations to do what they did to us would be one of the first answers to that question. After all, Osama was our boy... Yay, Bush!
klitorisaurus @ Mar 4th 2008 5:57PM
While terrorism fucking pisses me off I do recognize that one mans "terrorist" is another mans Hero. Conservative Americans are too quick to stamp the word terrorist on anyone who doesn't agree with them. Terrorism involves killing innocents and non-military personnel. This country uses the word to describe every enemy we have and it sickens me. It's used to create fear and aggression and is designed totally mask the FACT that our country is not entirely innocent.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. When a group of radical islamists were found to be plotting an attack on Fort Dix the media jumped all over calling them terrorists... terrorists attack civilians not military bases. These are Militants. I don't care if you shoot them, hang them, whatever... I'm just sick and tired of every body slapping the terrorist word on every arab that disagrees!
So when these douche bag campus republicans call the art department a "terrorist safehaven" it makes me long for the days when republicans actually had credibility.... like... before Herbert Hoover
LaughingTarget @ Mar 4th 2008 6:03PM
It's a hard choice. Republicans calling everyone that disagrees a terrorist or Democrats trying to hand over US sovereignty over to the UN. It's a lot easier to ignore a gasbag than having an international panel run our lives without our input.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1386596
dan stabbingworth @ Mar 4th 2008 7:45PM
It's a war of perception, really. To call them militants suggests that they are in a legal war, and to call them terrorists means they are fighting illegally. Different rights apply, the American people categorize them differently, and then we fail to question our elected officials when they do things because we think they are fighting off the dirty terrorists.
Personally I think we should retreat back to America, invest heavily in producing our own energy, and let NATO deal with the world's problems. But I'm not president; I can only vote for the dude who follows my beliefs.
dan stabbingworth @ Mar 4th 2008 7:45PM
Fuck: UN, not NATO.
deadatom @ Mar 4th 2008 6:09PM
@STEVE we didnt beg for anything
@chrono yeah youre one of the blame clinton first morons.. clinton who bombed the terrorists camps in afghanistan... was accused of doing that as a wag the dog distraction... vs bush... who gave the taliban $50 million dollars before 911... youre a fucking bright one... youre still using the stupid buzz phrases like "they hate us for our freedom" from 2003.. man u should just stfu..
LaughingTarget @ Mar 4th 2008 6:13PM
Clinton and Bush are roughly on equal ground. Both are self-serving assholes and both have done far more to ruin this nation than help it.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 8:59PM
If you want to lame blame at a world leaders feet, then he's the 1st guy in line. Personally, other than he letting bin laden go when he had the opportunity to bring him in, there's little or nothing he did to cause 9/11 either.
The POINT was, we were attacked by radicals with an agenda because our way of life (personal freedom, secular government) is directly counter to theirs (sharia law). They felt threatened that we were spreading democracy and westernization around the world, and knew no other way to do anything about it than to try to cripple our economy (World Trade Center), Military (Pentagon), Congress, and Executive.
Yeah, most people seem to forget that the terrorists on 9/11 only succeeded in a fraction of their goals. Their total goal was to destroy our government and way of life in one strike.
deadatom @ Mar 4th 2008 9:04PM
are you that fucking retarded chrono? stfu gtfo.. UR DONE
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 5th 2008 8:29AM
The "retarded" one here is you, or have you already forgotten 9/11, and the 4 hijacked planes. Each had a target, and the World Trade Center was only 1 of them. The one that crashed into the pentagon was originally targeting the white house (but they couldn't find it), and the one that went down in a field was headed for congress.
How quickly you forget. We're not dealing with some frustrated people who just want to get along, we're dealing with savage killers who would like nothing more than to see you dead.
deadatom @ Mar 4th 2008 6:21PM
chrono: you know less of the world.. and care less for our freedoms... then anyone i know.. you are as ignorant and as bad as the terrorists.. but instead of destroying us from the outside.. you are killing us from the inside.. you and youre kind need to die off.. you are the cancer of this democracy and any democracy in any nation... read a book asshole.
sid_space: to me this just shows a double standard in this country.. what the artist is showing.. is that there wasnt any uproar about a game that showed the usa killing arabs and showing them to be all scum.. but when a mod is used reverse the rolls.. we get controvery out the ass ... its a double standard.. its hypocrisy that the artist is exposing..
SID SPACE @ Mar 4th 2008 6:43PM
I agree with you.
It is a double standard, and it shouldn't be. Maybe games like the original would have gotten some bad press if there weren't so many close minded extreme right-wing or extreme left-wing people in this country. The right-wing just happens to have a leg up for the moment due to 9/11, so it didn't (since terrorism and the middle east is still such a touchy subject).
Extreme conservatives support the original and call the mod unpatriotic, while extreme liberals find the former offensive and the latter an artistic counter. Not every thing is a complete black and white issue.
To me, both are equally offensive.
People shouldn't be labeled as "unpatriotic" because they aren't war-mongering super patriotic assholes, like those who probably supported the original Saddam game. And those who disagree with the message the mod sends should not be labeled as being "anti-freedom".
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 8:53PM
Excuse me, you don't even know me, mr. "this is my fifth post on joystiq." If you actuall DID know me, you'd know that I highly value my country and all its freedoms, and I can't stand ignorant assholes like you and the subject of the article telling me how evil we are.
Go crawl back into your hole.
SugarDaddy @ Mar 5th 2008 8:31AM
@crono:
"...party of personal responsibility..."
Hahaha! Hahaha! That is rich! Oh man, that is absolutely freakin hilarious. MAYBE in the Goldwater days, you could have laid that claim to the Repuglicans. Suggesting that today's Repuglican party has anything to do with responsibility is an absolute joke. They're the borrow-and-spend, pass-the-buck party of all time!
You also make the mistake of conflating your loyalty to the Repuglicans as being a good American. Good Americans question everything. You are just a drone.
Batzarro @ Mar 4th 2008 6:31PM
Stupid Idea, stupid counter. John Lennon and Ghandi must be rolling in their graves...
Batzarro @ Mar 4th 2008 6:43PM
Uh...But Spain retired their troops, and that didn't stop a bus full of spaniards to be blown in egypt. Was Spain begging for it too? Seriously, if you justify one thing with another, you're no worst than the people you condemn!
Someday, when America isn't all there, you'll need SOMEONE else to blame everytime were missing a pencil. The sad thing is you will, too...