Medal of Honor 2010 Never Banned

Despite the fact that news media all over the world -- from the Internet to newspapers, TV, and radio -- widely reported that the US Military banned Electronic Art's new military first-person shooter Medal of Honor 2010, it turns out that no official action of any type was taken by the Pentagon or any other branch of the military.

When Medal of Honor was released in October it was the immediate target of attacks and criticism from government officials and the family members of soldiers who fought -- and died -- in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Officials from various agencies of government in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland spoke out against the game, which has an online player-vs-player mode that requires players to rotate between playing as coalition forces and insurgents.

"The big problem that people have with the game is that it has the players fighting as the bad guys," Staff Sergeant William Stewart says. "It is not like the previous games in the series, which largely dealt with wars that are so long ago; the war in the Middle East is still going on, and people are still dying, so I think it is easy to understand what has them so upset about that game," Stewart says.

One of several dozen currently-serving members of the US Military attending a large LAN Party in Boston this weekend, where Medal of Honor was one of the headline games, Stewart and his mates did quite well no matter what side they happened to be fighting on.

"Tactics and skill bro, it is all about tactics and skill. You gotta respect the little bastards though, they are tough fighters, and well organized," he added. Stewart is back from his second tour of duty in the war zone, where he says games like Medal of Honor are very popular with soldiers stationed at bases in the region.

"Practically every base has some game consoles, and hey, war game, war zone, it just figures," Stewart laughingly pointed out. "Nobody said we cannot play (Medal of Honor) as far as I know," he adds. "And it is getting played. Great game."

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Inquiries with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service -- the agency that manages the network of base exchange stores and third-party stores like GameStop that operate on U.S. military bases -- reveals that contrary to the widely reported ban by military officials, no official action of any sort has actually been taken with respect to Medal of Honor. Judd Anstey, a spokesman for the agency, spelled it out in clear and easy to understand terms -- the same thing he said to the reporters who then claimed there was a ban:

"There is no ban; the Exchange is just not carrying that particular item, it is a stock assortment decision," Anstey said. "I have heard nothing that would lead one to believe that you'd be forbidden to play that game on any post."

He said the decision not to stock "Medal of Honor" at Army and Air Force Exchange facilities was made Sept. 2 by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service's commander, Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella.

"Out of respect to those we serve, we will not be stocking this game," Casella announced. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause authorized shoppers, but are optimistic that they will understand the sensitivity to the life-and-death scenarios this product presents as entertainment. As a military command with a retail mission, we serve a very unique customer base that has, or possibly will, witness combat in real life."

General Casella was not available for comment, but a Pentagon spokesman clarified the matter for me. "The game is not banned, it is not a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to play the game, no soldier is going to face an Article 15 for playing that game on base or off," the spokesman said.

A manager for a GameStop store that is located near (but not on) a US Army base agreed to be interviewed anonymously, explaining that they were not authorized by the company to speak to the press.

"There was no official policy or anything from the base, it is not like they called us and told us we cannot sell that game," they explained. "But you know, 90% of our trade is with the soldiers from the base and their families, and we do not want to upset them, so we decided to follow the lead set by the Exchange and simply not carry the title.

"A customer who wants the game can still order it through us, they just have to ask us to get it for them," they said. "Some stores have it but do not have it on display; they keep it behind the counter. We don't have it at all but we can get it. If you order it we can have it in two days."

In spite of the fact that the game was never officially banned by the military, otherwise reputable newspapers, TV, and magazine news reporters still maintain that the game was banned, with many using the imagined ban as the focus for pieces that decry censorship, or use it as a platform to criticize the military, but from where this reporter stands it appears to be a textbook case of "Wag the Dog Syndrome."

For a better understanding of what has happened -- and how the news media is manipulating the story and the issues -- the reader might be best served by heading down to their local video rental shop and checking out a copy of the movie 'Wag the Dog' staring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Di Nero.