Would it be possible to conduct war through electronic gaming instead of for real?

Could we get all nations to stand down their armies and end all real wars? Could we develop a virtual world identical to the state of conflict we have in the real world?

Could we handle every aspect of war through a gaming console, and allow disputes to be settled through virtual battles?

Nothing would change except for the killing. The public would be locked out of the system and we’d still get news reports and political posturing telling us how well the war effort was going. Critics could still complain and reporters could still get virtual clearance to enter certain parts of the virtual scenario.

The U.N. could still have virtual monitoring and the power to enforce virtual sanctions. Recruiters could still tempt young men and women into joining the army, and they would even have to go live in the barracks away from their homes. But all training would be virtual, and set them into a virtual battlefield.

If your virtual soldier is killed or wounded… You’re Out! We could even have virtual psychologists help the ex-combatants deal with virtual psychosis.

I know that we’d never get everyone agreeing to do this. But if we could… why not?