Video Games As Propaganda

SharkLaser writes "A video game developer working for Kuma Reality Games has admitted that the company has been receiving money from the CIA to design and freely distribute special movies and games with the aim of manipulating public opinion in the Middle East. Amir Mizra Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, moved to work for Kuma after working for DARPA and has said the goal of the company was to convince people that whatever the U.S. does in other countries is a good measure. Kuma officials have declined to comment, while Hekmati himself is locked in Iran. The United States government has demanded the release of Hekmati, but Iran has sentenced him to death for spying, which he confessed to."

Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[artor3]

Seriously, all of the "evidence" in this case comes from the man's forced confession. Given Iran's record on human rights, he was most likely tortured into confessing. Why on Earth is this being reported as fact?

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[Talderas]

It fits in with the slashdot narrative.

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[ugen]

Because this is /. , reflexively anti-American regardless of right/wrong/otherwise. If it takes siding with Iran to stay the course, then so be it.

Not a reliable confession

[JoshuaZ]

This guy is in prison in Iran. This would not be the first time that a regime has coerced people to say things that aren't true and to sign false confessions. The US has in the last decade done it also. In the US, even when there is no torture, false confessions can be extracted even in murder cases- http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/False-Confessions.php [innocenceproject.org]. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this sort of program really did exist, but the fact that someone in Iranian custody confessed to it isn't good evidence for the claim.

Re:Eye for an eye.`

[JoshuaZ]

So you want to kill some random person because of his nationality if his nation does something bad? Do you think that killing of Iraqi civilians justifies the killing of American civilians? Retribution may feel good. But it accomplishes very little. At the end of the day, when you kill someone you are killing someone's son or daughter. You are killing someone' mother or father. You are killing a fellow human being.

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[TubeSteak]

Given Iran's record on human rights, he was most likely tortured into confessing.

I thought torture is a useful and valuable tool in extracting actionable intelligence from terrorist suspects.
Why wouldn't it work on an American spy too?

Re:Eye for an eye.`

[Nidi62]

He admitted to being a spy. Capture and possible execution is part of the job.

If I imprison you, torture you, and threaten your family, I'm pretty sure I can get you to admit to being a spy. Doesn't mean you are one. I didn't realize imprisonment and execution as a political propaganda tool came along with simply visiting family.

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[Loopy]

Disingenuous at best. There's a big difference between confirming suspected intel and turning a prisoner into propaganda. There is also a tremendous gulf between broadly applied and completely opportunistic use of it and the "graded escalation" the US goes through before utilizing distasteful tools. Of course, such fine distinctions aren't exactly helpful to The Cause, are they?

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[Bucky24]

I don't see the difference. They suspected he was an American spy. He confessed under torture. So using torture they confirmed suspected intel.

Re:Depends what kind of spy he is.

[Lehk228]

American and Israeli spies have arranged for "accidents" to happen to Iranian scientists, it's not unrealistic at all for them to act very aggressively against caught spies and suspected spies.

Re:Eye for an eye.`

[parlancex]

He admitted to being a spy. Capture and possible execution is part of the job.

If I imprison you, torture you, and threaten your family, I'm pretty sure I can get you to admit to being a spy. Doesn't mean you are one. I didn't realize imprisonment and execution as a political propaganda tool came along with simply visiting family.

I think it's hilarious to hear Americans complain about this practice. I suppose all the confessions that were elicited at Guantánamo Bay are completely different, and totally legit(tm).

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[GameboyRMH]

It was written by SharkLaser aka DCTech aka at least one other username starting with "I" that I can't even remember, a dedicated troll. I'm starting to wonder if these are all puppet accounts actually being run by Slashdot staff to boost page views by stirring up nerd rage. The guy's an obvious troll and all his stories get approved, what am I supposed to think?

Re:Eye for an eye.`

[icebraining]

Or he complains about both. Do you agree with everything the government of your country does? I know I don't.

Re:yeah

[unity100]

strings ? those strings fell away long ago. and their bloody mindedness has kept all these wars going.

Re:Wrong.

[gknoy]

Torture can net you verifiable truths. Period.

No, Torture only gets you what the prisoner believes you want to hear.

If an interrogator straps you to a chair, and tells you that they know you've been kidnapping neighborhood kids (and you know you haven't), and if you sign this confession you'll only get 10 years instead of 20, you'll tell me to fuck off and ask for a lawyer. You might even accept that it's better to go to prison for a crime you didn't commit than confess to lies.

When the interrogator gets dissatisfied with your refusal to confess, and they start cutting off fingers and toes, how long do you hold out before confessing to a lie? When they start to immerse your head in a bucket long enough that you're choking on water, or start applying sharp implements to sensitive (or irreplaceable) parts of your body, how long do you maintain the truth, rather than tell them what they want to hear?

Re:Why is /. repeating Iran's propaganda for them?

[Anonymous Coward]

Correction:

Because this is /. , reflexively anti-Corruption regardless of right/wrong/otherwise. If it takes siding with Iran to stay the course, then so be it.

america != corruption - unless you are saying it does?

in which case, who is anti-american?