Civilian fascination with the game of war

Headline: “Confirmed kills: A solemn secret for military snipers is becoming a pop-culture hit.”

“Inside one of America’s most select clubs, the tally known as ‘confirmed kills’ is revered yet rarely discussed — meant to be carried silently, worn proudly and certainly never hyped.”
…
“But to a growing audience of civilian consumers, the stat is pure mystique, darkly enticing, packed with alpha swagger. And to publisher HarperCollins, director Steven Spielberg, and an Iraq veteran-turned-author who bills himself as ‘one of the deadliest American soldiers of all time,’ the grisly total also equates to money.”

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/25/19679964-confirmed-kills-a-solemn-secret-for-military-snipers-is-becoming-a-pop-culture-hit?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=2

Funny that to “a growing audience of consumers,” a “confirmed kill” is OK if done from long distance and with a single shot, but “body count” is not … sporting? That’s not a good comparison. War games’ success, from what I’ve seen at advertisements, is number of dead left in the wake on the way to a goal; the number of dead and the method of killing.

“The public has had a fascination with battlefield exploits from Homer’s Iliad to Sergeant York to Chris Kyle.”

Anybody know without searching, how many Germans did Corp. York kill the day he did his Medal of Honor deed? The civilian is talking about three different things – Aegean war, 20th century war, and snipers.

The whole idea just kind of struck me as a manufactured story.