Dutch gamer gets on US bad side

Note that the US Army puts out its own computer game in order to recruit soldiers and that violent games are a part of "US culture".

The Dutch creator of a video game-based movie, which the U.S. government says is being used as a recruitment tool by Muslim militants, says that his home-made creation was nothing more than a bit of fun.

The 11-minute video shows a man in Arab head-dress carrying an automatic weapon into combat with U.S. invaders, and it was shown to a U.S. Congressional Committee this month as evidence of a militant campaign to recruit Muslim youth on the Internet.

"It was just for fun, nothing political," said Samir, a 25 year-old Dutch gamer, in an interview with Reuters. "It has nothing to do with recruiting people or training people."

Samir, who did not want to be identified by his full name, is a Muslim who was born and raised in the Netherlands and is a fan of U.S. movies and rap music.

His short movie is based on a popular video game, "Battlefield 2", which usually shows U.S. troops engaging Chinese or Middle Eastern forces.

Samir borrowed part of the soundtrack from a satirical movie, "Team America: World Police", including the words: "As quickly as they had come, the infidels were gone. It was on that day I put a jihad (holy war) on them."

He also added a soundbite from President George W. Bush, days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, in which he described the war on terrorism as a "crusade". The phrase gravely offended many Muslims who took it to mean Bush was calling for a war against Islam.

Source: Reuters (English)

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