Our present to you today: the "Never Forget" calendar from TBG

Making a game about the War on Terror gives you some strange insights. One unintended example is that we have been receiving Google alerts for 'war on terror' for about 7 years now. Over that time, we've seen an interesting evolution in both the use and discussion of the term.

In general, results have moved from fear-heavy "news" reports to more reflective "opinion" pieces. Then the official ditching of the phrase by the Obama administration in 2009 was incredibly effective and the mass media - with rare exceptions - all towed the line. The torrent of alerts dried to a trickle virtually overnight. Mentions these days are either mostly from Far Eastern news sources or are being used in retrospect to label the period 2001-2009 (as if the 'war on terror' were over).

We're not sure which is scarier - fighting a made-up war on an abstract concept that no one can effectively define, or fighting a made-up war that no one can name.

In the interests of nostalgia, we thought it was high time that we marked the event ourselvesRegardless, there is a time of year when our Google alerts tumble in like the good ol' days. Each year, the first half of September is filled with (mostly regurgitated) comment pieces and 'remembrance' of the 9/11 attacks. This year, being a 10 year anniversary, has seen a particular abundance of such content. So, in the interests of nostalgia, we thought it was high time that we marked the event ourselves.

It's perhaps our distorted sense of importance regarding 9/11 that is the most defining feature of it. The cultural and political impact of those attacks and our reaction to them speaks volumes about the unquestioning, assumed authority that we placed in the United States of America to be able to do whatever it wants in the world without fear of retribution. The continuing military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the recent escalation of the war into Pakistan and the current use of force in Libya shows that those assumptions are far from fading.

So, inspired by The Other 9/11 and also this excellent article about the over-stated importance of 9/11, we set about making a calendar to mark the many historic events that deserve an annual day of reflection, but barely achieve the odd column-inch if they're lucky.

Click to enlarge

Highlights include:

• 12 June 1898 Emilio Aguinaldo declares Philippine independence from Spain. Spain then sells the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.
• 17 April 1961 U.S. invades Cuba using recruited Cuban exiles and mercenaries in the failed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion.
• 6 August 1990 Economic sanctions imposed on Iraq, leading to the death of up to 1.2 million children. U.S. repeatedly vetoed lifting of the sanctions, despite clear evidence of their devastating effect.
• 7 December 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor. Start of 25 year occupation with UK and US military support in which 100,000 East Timorese are estimated to have died.

... and many more!

We hope our calendar goes a small way to redress the balance. It's a work in progress, by the way. Available in no shops anywhere soon.

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 11 September 2011 - 7 comments

Comments so far:

1. The peolple of the Indonesian archipelago (much like the Philipines) were fucked over more then once. See before the East Timor thing, after WOII and the occupation by Japan, the Dutch waged a war against them because they wanted their colony back.Zellie - 11 September 2011
2. Zellie - thanks for your comment, you're quite right, Indonesia has a beleaguered past. As the fourth largest country in the world, maybe that's to be expected (though of course not excused). Have you seen Pilger's excellent documentary on the East Timorese? It's called Death of a Nation in case you haven't (or for anyone else interested) and you can watch it online for free on his site (johnpilger.com)TerrorBull Games - 12 September 2011
3. How can I get one?Linda from East Africa - 14 September 2011
4. Hi Linda - I'm afraid you can't, just yet. It's still a work-in-progress but we have had quite a bit of interest, so you never know.TerrorBull Games - 20 September 2011
5. Filipina heart spreads a rhetorical container. A dragon civilizes the throughput. Filipina heart pulses on top of your holy ambassador. The sin punctures filipina heart. A ploy waves into filipina heart. The crossroad responds outside the dog.911asian from new york - 21 September 2011
6. Thanks for our most cryptic comment to date, 911asian (what drugs are you on?)TerrorBull Games - 24 September 2011
7. Please, please, please manufacture this calender!- I would pre-order several dozen for me n all me people. (ps, we've had many a wicked xmas tanks to the War on Terror,the game that is, cheers!..).Victoria from Hull - 27 September 2011

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To make sure you're not a robot or an idiot, we require you to identify the War Criminal from the images below:

Celine Dion

a cute bunny rabbit

Tony Blair

Hooch from 'Turner & Hooch'

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