Col. Oliver North, a man convicted on multiple counts during the Iran-Contra scandal — who by his own admission had a “fairly good relationship” with the brutal, drug-running Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega — is apparently the new frontman for Activision’s next “Call of Duty” game.
In a video published this week, North does his best to fearmonger about fictional threats, like a hacker taking control of every single airplane over the U.S., plugging “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2″ in an unusual trailer that appears to depict the hacktivst movement “Anonymous” as “the enemy.”
While it wouldn’t be the first time a shooter game has seized upon current political memes — for instance, the next “Rainbow Six” game from publisher Ubi-Soft uses a fictional terrorist threat from the 99 Percent movement — it is the most galling yet, especially considering their new spokesperson’s checkered past.
In short, North was one of the most stunningly corrupt officials to face criminal charges during the Reagan administration.
During the Iran-Contra scandal, Americans got their first clear look at how the National Security Council uses the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in actual black ops — in this particular case, the U.S. was using money from the sales of illegal arms and drugs to funnel weapons to rebel fighters in south America — and North was smack in the middle of it.
