Call of Duty Modern Warfare’s alternate history blames the Russians for American War Crimes

Call of Duty Modern Warfare's alternate history blames the Russians for American War Crimes 1

The big bad Russian has been a cliche in Western pop culture since almost the second WWII was over. From Boris and Natasha in Rocky and Bullwinkle to Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, all American audiences have ever needed to consider a villain believable evil was a scowl and a thick Ruskie accent.

This fact makes it even more ironic that when Activision was looking for ways to differentiate between the British and American liberators of the fictitious Urzikstan and it’s violent and bloodthirsty invaders, the Russians, they chose the bombing of a major highway as Urzikstani troops and civilians attempted to escape:

Call of Duty Modern Warfare's alternate history blames the Russians for American War Crimes 2

The reason this is ironic is most likely quite obvious for anyone familiar with American military activity in the Middle East since the 1990s, but for any younger Millenials or Zoomers who can’t remember a time before President Obama, let Twitter’s @TheChowderhead remind you:

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That’s right, folks, when the creators of Modern Warfare wanted inspiration for how to make their Russian antagonists truly despicable and bloodthirsty, the best they could come up with was rewriting an American atrocity that even their own Attorney General Ramsey Clark argued violated the Third Geneva Convention.

The Geneva Convention is what decides whether something is a War Crime or not, by the way.

Considering this rewriting of history, it probably explains why Modern Warfare was removed from the Playstation store in Russia. Up until now, most people assumed it was because they were worried the Russians would be upset they were the villains in this one.

At this point, it would be hard to blame the Russians if they did.

Fortunately, that’s just the super edgy campaign, right? Surely the multiplayer is just some straightforward PVP shoot-em-ups?

Oh, White Phosphorous is a killstreak, you say?

I guess I’m the only one who played that mission in Spec Ops: The Line.