i'm so ashamed.

I got to operate the gun turret on a Hummer in Baghdad today and you didn't.

Well, I got to do this on a training simulator they brought to our offices.
Participating as the gunner on this daytime cruise through the Iraqi capital (complete with virtual "terrorists" firing RPGs), I first was afflicted with a moral conflict:

Is it more morally corrupt to:

• Operate the gun on the
  Hummer
• Drive a Hummer

By operating the gun, I had the opportunity to actually destroy other vehicles, thereby reducing the burden on global resources being caused by the driving of the vehicle. Of course, all of this took place on a very elaborate headset and was nothing more than a glorified video game.

I wonder about the efficacy of training on these ridiculously expensive simulators. While I believe it probably helps prepare our troops to patrol otherwise alien environments, is there an desensitization that takes place when war turns into a video game? If the guy in the Hummer behind me who kept shooting everything that moved — including me — is any indication, there just might be.