Earlier this morning, I posted a short bit on how my experience in an online continuing (3-month cycles, 30k + players) war game colors my perspective on the Iraqi war (and most global affairs, for that matter).
I'll try to, as briefly as possible, describe the game so that people can get a gist of it for microcosmic purposes and how it relates to the current world affairs. For 3 years I was totally addicted to this game and for 1-2, I was what you'd call "a player."
You are given a small piece of land to start with; you expand either by exploration or landgrabbing (attacking others); you build an economy and a population and have a military. The economic growth system goes as such: land >> population >> jobs >> money >> military >> land >> etc.
There are 25 provinces to a kingdom and a forum for organization. 30 kingdoms to an island. 50 islands in all.
When it comes to attacking for land, you either go out randomly grabbing whatever looks like an easy target, or if you spot a kingdom of rubes, declare war. War breaks out for other reasons as well, maybe growing from a series of landgrabs that escalate. Occasionally you'll see huge alliance wars and - before it got stale - highly entertaining and very enlightening game-wide forum propaganda that would do Karl Rove quite proud. Their were even groups of people who successfully set out to emulate the CIA and the mob and infiltrate other kingdoms and alliances to bring 'em down, it got that involved.
For about a year and a half, I was a top kingdom leader (regent was the title, actually). It was my job to keep people motivated and plot war strategies for maximum gain, if it was gains we were looking for, or maximum pain, if we were looking to inflict damage on someone who pissed us off.
So anyway, you go to war. My exit strategy from any fight was to try to be the first regent in an altercation to recognize when the fight was over before my opponent did, to give my kingdom an advantage in negotiations. When you know that your side is ready to move onto other pastures, it's time to negotiate, but if your opposing monarch won't talk to you, and there is no designated diplomat to do their talking otherwise, you are going to be stuck fighting longer than you want to be. Gains in this situation can rapidly turn to losses if you aren't prepared to be brutal, or, if you can't manipulate the other guys into laying down arms and accepting peace.
Then you have other scenarios: sometimes, the opposing regent will defect (either because they can't handle the defeat, or their kingdom is worthless and they don't want to swallow for losers) or delete, or if they're cheating, be deleted by the game master.
At that stage, the kingdom has got to have another leader ready to step up to the plate and either negotiate the truce, or lead the troops back into battle and retain some pride. If no one does, and if they are desperate or just want to inflict damage, they will suicide by attacking and leaving very little troops to protect their lands (terrorists). You can gain land from them, still, but your province infrustructure will be weakened from immediate, HUGE land losses to a smaller player. (Quagmire)
Now back to Iraq. We don't know where Saddam is. We (us common folk, not Rummy) don't know if Saddam was killed or if he defected. Either way the current situation is that Iraq does not have a player - a leader of their people who is loyal to his country and has his countrymens' loyalty and obeisance in return - capable of negotiating a truce.
No doubt, part of that is our own fault, because have no interest in allowing them to have a sovereign leader in the first place. Even without that, at this time remains a leadership vacuum in Iraq.
Until that vacuum is filled or Iraq is so beaten down that it has no will (at that point in the game, a kingdom in that position will
never recover from the war) to continue fighting, the war is not going to be over.
You can go join all the protests you want, but it's not going to resolve the situation. Only helping Iraq get its shit together or bracing for further battle until they have a leader (who we respect for his abilities) who can negotiate is going to bring this to an end.
The game I refer to, btw, is Utopia.
http://games.swirve.com/utopia/I wouldn't really recommend it anymore, its glory days are over, but I learned a lot while I was there.
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