MarketingVOX: Islamic Fundamentalists' mores may be right out of the Dark Ages, but their media skills are certainly 21st century. Islamic militants have apparently modified U.S. combat videogames as part of a propaganda campaign to recruit young fighters against the U.S., reports Reuters. Tech-savvy al Qaeda and other groups have made U.S. troops in those games into the bad guys fighting Islamic radical heroes. The altered games appear on militant websites and serve Islamic militant propaganda from Indonesia to Turkey and Chechnya, according to testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

One of the latest modified games is the popular "Battlefield 2" from leading videogame publisher Electronic Arts. "I was just a boy when the infidels came to my village in Blackhawk helicopters," a voice says over images of warfare, followed by a recording of President George W. Bush's September 16, 2001 statement: "This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while."

The Islamic propaganda message is that the U.S. is waging a crusade against Islam for control of Middle East oil, and that Muslims should fight back. (Of course, those of a cynical bent may argue that the original games are themselves essentially pro-U.S. propaganda that serves as an armed forces recruiting tool.)