Images of North Korea on the Attack

In today's San Francisco Chronicle there is a story describing a promotion for a new video game from THQ, a Southern California company. THQ releases 10,000 balloons on which they attach ads for their game. Many of these balloons alight in the bay and some environmentalists now have their panties in a bunch.

What is of greater concern are the contents of this game, in which the United States is invaded by North Korea. This is,of course, preposterous. The only Asian power that came close to this were the Japanese. If they won at Midway, the plans were to attack Hawaii at a later date. This would have left the West Coast vulnerable to invasion, but the Japanese were more interested in protecting their flanks from the U.S. Navy, while they pursued expansionist plans in resource rich Southeast Asia. North Korea is in no position to mount any kind of invasion of any of the island bases in the Pacific, much less the mainland of the United States.

Images have power. During the Gulf War, or Bush War I, Scud Stud Arthur Kent is broadcasting from Jerusalem when he comes under missile attack from Iraq. The image of Kent donning his gas mask while the sirens sound is memorable. A young relative of mine has great fear that he will be attacked here at home. There is no chance of this happening given the range of Iraqi missiles and the distance from ours shores. It is understandable how a youngster, who may not understand these facts, might give into fear. It is distressing that many adults today, who do not have basic knowledge of history, geography and certainly not aerospace, may also be seduced by such images.

It is a concern that, “The Military Industrial Complex,” is marketing a perception of North Korea as something to fear. Of course, the purpose of engendering this trepidation is maintaining Defense Department spending and lucrative contracting opportunities that some of these companies enjoy since the 1940s.