Whatever one's opinions may be regarding the war in Iraq, we can all agree that our men and women in uniform deserve the best that can be provided.

I have been against this war since the first day, but I am sure that many who support this war share my anger at seeing our servicepeople deprived of essential armor for both themselves, and their vehicles. Likewise, when we hear of returning vets getting less than standard healthcare, both peacenicks and warhawks have cause to be concerned...

As a diehard gamer, I was mortified to learn, recently, that a fundamentalist "Christian" entertainment business was set to bury our troops in Iraq under hundreds of copies of the worst PC RTS that has ever been produced: "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" (Read my review, here.)

My complaint is not that the game in question is a freakish, poorly-executed recruitment tool for the most radical form of "christianity"- my beef is that it's a horrible damned game...

Think about it: You're stationed in Iraq, and your job is to patrol dangerous environs in 120-degree heat, wearing full combat gear. The best you can hope for, out of any day, is that an IED, a Car bomb, or a Sniper's bullet doesn't make that day your last. Among the 150,000-plus american servicepeople stationed in Iraq, there are gamers, and they deserve better than a mothballed copy of LB:EF...

To that end, I wanna talk to alla my fellow gamers out there:

If you're anything like me, you go through games like socks. Once you've worn out one, you move on to another. It's more than likely that you have a shelf filled with games that you don't play anymore. You hang on to your copy of Madden '05, even though you've long since worn out Madden '06. You haven't played Oblivion in months, but keep it around, because you]re hoping for another expansion pack. You still have "Scarface- The World Is Yours" installed on your hard drive, but haven't found the time to play it, since you bought "Overlord."

It's time to take those games down from their shelf, and give them to our fellow gamers in Iraq who need a tad of R&R in a battlezone where knocking back a cold beer is against regulations.

Drop me a line, and tell me what games you can contribute.

Games contributed will be delivered directly to units stationed in Iraq, with a proviso that they be distributed freely, and not be pirated.

Rules:

1: Ripped/pirated games will not be accepted.

2: "America's Army," "Racewar," and "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" will not be accepted.

Suggestions:

1: Air freight to Iraq is expensive. Send disks/media and documentation in a ziploc bag.

2: Preferred formats are PSP, Playstation 3 & 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC CD/DVD, and Nintendo DS.

3: Give 'till it hurts. Many of the troops just deployed to Iraq won't be coming home until well after Spore is finally released.

Current games due for delivery to Iraq:

Oblivion (PC DVD ROM)
Scarface: The World Is Yours (PC DVD ROM)
Gothic 3 (PC DVD ROM)
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC DVD ROM)