Taliban Chess Set Features Osama bin Laden
June 21, 2011 09:10 PM EDT
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A Taliban Chess Set is the newest craze these days -- hundreds of copies have already been sold to coalition troops in Afghanistan. The chess set features Osama bin Laden as the king and a suicide bomber as the knight. The queen is a woman in a burka.
There are different versions of the game, with a choice of coalition countries to choose from to take on the Taliban side. Choices include America, Canada and Britain.
"In the British set, the king is Tony Blair and the queen is the Queen, while the rook is Big Ben. In the American set they are replaced by Barack Obama, the Statue of Liberty and the twin towers of the World Trade Centre."
So if you wanted to give bin Laden a piece of your mind, he might be in the grave, but now you can.
The Taliban Chess Set was created by Jeffrey Train, a 48-year-old ex-Canadian soldier. So far, he's sold around 1,500 of these chess sets, "mainly as souvenirs to troops serving in the 140,000-strong international coalition in Afghanistan." He came up with the idea in 2006 "while working on Kandahar Airfield."
Train said, "I saw all these soldiers going to buy cheap souvenirs imported from Pakistan. I don't think they realised that the truck drivers were having to pay off the Taliban to get their goods through, so these soldiers were funding their enemies."
Train said most soldiers like the sets, though he has most definitely received some negative feedback.
"I have had Americans say 'How can you put a suicide bomber on the same board as the Twin Towers?' and I have said 'Look, this is reality, like it or not.'"
Train also says they have educational value. Of course, there is nothing more educating and eye-opening than actually being a soldier who has participated in a war. The Taliban Chess Sets include a board with a map of Afghanistan. "When these guys go back, they can show their kids: 'Look this is where we were, this is what we were doing and this is what we were wearing.'"
If you are itching to get your hands on one of these slightly-controversial chess sets, they are available in Afghanistan at three major military airfields, as well as on the Internet. A Taliban Chess Set costs about $250.
What do you think -- clever idea or in bad taste?
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June 21, 2011 09:10 PM EDT
Article Link
A Taliban Chess Set is the newest craze these days -- hundreds of copies have already been sold to coalition troops in Afghanistan. The chess set features Osama bin Laden as the king and a suicide bomber as the knight. The queen is a woman in a burka.
There are different versions of the game, with a choice of coalition countries to choose from to take on the Taliban side. Choices include America, Canada and Britain.
"In the British set, the king is Tony Blair and the queen is the Queen, while the rook is Big Ben. In the American set they are replaced by Barack Obama, the Statue of Liberty and the twin towers of the World Trade Centre."
So if you wanted to give bin Laden a piece of your mind, he might be in the grave, but now you can.
The Taliban Chess Set was created by Jeffrey Train, a 48-year-old ex-Canadian soldier. So far, he's sold around 1,500 of these chess sets, "mainly as souvenirs to troops serving in the 140,000-strong international coalition in Afghanistan." He came up with the idea in 2006 "while working on Kandahar Airfield."
Train said, "I saw all these soldiers going to buy cheap souvenirs imported from Pakistan. I don't think they realised that the truck drivers were having to pay off the Taliban to get their goods through, so these soldiers were funding their enemies."
Train said most soldiers like the sets, though he has most definitely received some negative feedback.
"I have had Americans say 'How can you put a suicide bomber on the same board as the Twin Towers?' and I have said 'Look, this is reality, like it or not.'"
Train also says they have educational value. Of course, there is nothing more educating and eye-opening than actually being a soldier who has participated in a war. The Taliban Chess Sets include a board with a map of Afghanistan. "When these guys go back, they can show their kids: 'Look this is where we were, this is what we were doing and this is what we were wearing.'"
If you are itching to get your hands on one of these slightly-controversial chess sets, they are available in Afghanistan at three major military airfields, as well as on the Internet. A Taliban Chess Set costs about $250.
What do you think -- clever idea or in bad taste?
end
