Game “Journalist” Nathan Bernhardt Whines About Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s New Killstreaks and Inclusion of White Phosphorous
Game “journalist” Nathan Bernhardt took to Twitter to whine about the inclusion of white phosphorous as a reward for a killstreak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare announced the return of killstreaks via Twitter and revealed that one of the rewards for a killstreak will be white phosphorous.
Own the opposition – reap the rewards.
Killstreaks make a return in #ModernWarfare. Tune-in August 1st for the full Multiplayer Premiere. pic.twitter.com/dUy6ZrkNzJ
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) July 29, 2019
Following the announcement, like clockwork, Bernhardt decried the inclusion of white phosphorous. He wrote that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare rewards players “for doing actual factual war crimes, like using intentionally using white phosphorous against infantry in an urban environment.”
glad this series has finally reached its final stage: rewarding you for doing actual factual war crimes, like using intentionally using white phosphorus against infantry in an urban environment https://t.co/eWayIOqV8V
— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) July 30, 2019
Bernhardt would continue in a lengthy Twitter thread decrying the inclusion of white phosphorous.
yes, since the munition is explicitly intended to burn anyone who gets “too close” it is both incendiary and a weapon, and since you are using it in an urban environment you are using it de facto against civilian targets. it violates every agreement and protocol.
— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) July 30, 2019
you are not using it for targeting purposes because if you were, you wouldn’t be “covering the battlefield.” IRL both the Americans and Israelis are far less blatant in their use of WP, and their uses still result in children burning alive and screaming while their parents watch
— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) July 30, 2019
the dude who quote tweeted this thread to say that it’s fine because you can do other war crimes and you just shouldn’t think about it so much evinces the true gamer spirit, of not thinking about things so much, but also wanting to talk shit
— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) July 30, 2019
to all the gamers: yes, I’m aware of the existence of tactical nukes in MW2. If you can time travel us back to 2009 so I can say that’s also dumb as shit and you can be giant children about it, lmk
— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) July 30, 2019
Bernhardt would not be alone in decrying the inclusion of white phosphorous.
Spec Ops the Line: White Phosphorus is a real hazard and a war crime, that causes destruction and painful deaths to people that from your point of view, are just white dots on a little screen
Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Kill your fiends with the new kill streak White Phosphorus!— Gerardo Sena (@GerardoSena_) July 30, 2019
Excuse me what the heck is white phosphorus doing here.
— Lewdsmokesoldier (@Lewdsmoke) July 30, 2019
this is what’s known as ‘politics in video games’. the military-industrial complex finds a propaganda outlet in these games
— Ruben Ferdinand 🐀 (@urbanfriendden) July 30, 2019
Hey, quick question: what is a literal war crime doing here?
— Three bears with one knife (@calzoneactual) July 30, 2019
White phosphorus
The stuff the US slaughtered children with in Iraq
— The Guillotine Shouter (@guillotineshout) July 30, 2019
What is White Phosphorous?
However, these hot takes are completely off the mark. White phosphorous or “Willie Pete” as it’s called is an incendiary weapon that can ignite skin, cloth, fuel, ammunition, and other combustibles. Not only does it burn fiercely, but it also is highly efficient at producing smoke. In fact, the substance is commonly used as smoke grenades. It can be used to create cover for troop movements and block infrared signatures. Not only can it be used to create cover for friendly forces, but it can also be used to take down fortified positions. During the Vietnam War, it was used to attack Viet Cong tunnels and suffocate the occupants because it would burn up all of the oxygen.
White phosphorous was used extensively in Korea and Vietnam and would be deployed in 2004 during the First Battle of Fallujah by the United States Marines. US Department of Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable described how white phosphorous was used in Iraq, “When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on and you wish to get them out of those positions, one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position because the combined effects of the fire and smoke – and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground – will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives.” Venable noted that “white phosphorous is a conventional munition. It is not a chemical weapon. They are not outlawed or illegal.”
While a number of countries have banned the use of the munitions in combat via Protocol 3 of the UN’s Convention on the Prohibition on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, the United States has not signed onto the treaty and is thus not bound by it.
The field manual the Rule of Land Warfare also states, “The use of weapons which employ fire, such as tracer ammunition, flamethrowers, napalm and other incendiary agents, against targets requiring their use is not violative of international law.”
White Phosphorous No Stranger to Video Games
White phosphorous is no stranger to video games. As Polygon’s Charlie Hall points out it was used in Spec Ops: The Line where players had “to target civilians with incendiary mortar rounds in order to complete the game. The intention was to show the true horrors of war.”
Gamespot’s Oscar Dayus even notes “white phosphorous was previously used as a tactical grenade in the Black Ops series–where it caused ‘a small amount of damage on detonation'”
In fact, white phosphorous is not even the most painful way a player can die in the Call of Duty series. As Sophia Narwitz points out Call of Duty “previously let you drop a nuke and automatically win if you had a 25 kill streak.”
*whispers*
Pssst, You guys, it’s a multiplayer game in a series that previously let you drop a nuke and automatically win if you had a 25 kill streak. Maybe let’s not get uppity over the escapist absurdity/violence that is online play.If you want nuance, play the single player. pic.twitter.com/1xJXzC6sZT
— Sophia Narwitz (@SophNar0747) July 30, 2019
What do you make of Bernhardt’s comments about Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare? Do you think the inclusion of white phosphorous as a killstreak reward is controversial?
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