I already posted some links of the new kind of war toys replacing the cowboys with members of the delta force. There's an article by Krista Foss over at commondreams.org which has a better picture of the controversial Forward Command Post (Age: 8+ years), produced by the Sparkle Industrial Co. Ltd.

Excerpt: "War toys have been around forever, but the problem here is the change in focus. Before such toys were more in line with the ideas of self-defence," said Eric Garris, who is webmaster of the California-based Antiwar.com, which has started a campaign about against the Forward Command Post toy.

"This is not just another war toy -- it's a total paradigm shift in the war toy industry. It's setting up the young people for this new kind of war, where soldiers come into your house and take it over when they need to."

Antiwar.com has been pushing the U.S. department store chain JC Penney to remove Forward Command Post from its on-line catalogue and stores. (Calls to the head office - 972-431-1000 - were not returned.)

Meanwhile, the same is toy is available on-line through eToys, which also offers a choice of Caucasian or a dark-skinned "ethnic" military action figures with weapon-stuffed footlockers. A similar toy, Elite Operations Forward Command Post, is sold on the Toys 'R' Us Web site (but not in Canadian stores)."