Dave Anthony, the former writer and director for the mega-hits Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, believes that United States soldiers should be stationed at schools. He contends that this will help to protect children from threats such as attacks from the Islamic State Iraq Syria (ISIS).
Anthony expressed his sentiments this past Wednesday at a forum hosted by the Atlantic Council, a group promoting “constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs,” where Anthony holds a fellowship in international security.
“The threat now, the invasion, comes from within,” Anthony told the group. “Imagine the concept of something like a ‘school marshal,’” he said. “Now these guys are U.S. soldiers who are in plainclothes, whose job and part of their responsibility is to protect schools.”
Anthony noted that he expected resistance to this idea, noting that “the public will think this is a police state.”
The writer/director went on to explain that this negative perception could be solvable through “marketing” and “brainwashing”.
“When we have a new product that has elements that we’re not sure how people will respond to, what do we do as a corporation?” he asked. “We market it, and we market it as much as we can—so that whether people like it or not, we do all the things we can to essentially brainwash people into liking it before it actually comes out.”
The Call of Duty scribe tried to drive home the alleged threat from ISIS attacking citizens on U.S. soil: “It could be that you have 100 of these guys who may be on our soil right now, who may even be U.S. citizens, who could legally walk into whatever gun store they choose, buy some assault rifles, and start attacking soft targets.”
Anthony’s remarks came a month after reports were published stating that school districts in California such as the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District received armored vehicles that had previously been used by the military in foreign conflicts.
Anthony did not reference any specific threats to schools from the militant Islamic group to justify the concept of armed school marshals.
The next game in the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare will be released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC on 11/4/2014
How do you feel about the prospect of adding U.S. military personnel to schoolrooms? Has he been too immersed in his own Call of Duty plotlines? Sound off in the comments section below.
-Source: Businessweek.com