WHAT IF—WHAT IF—the violent riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was not just an impulsive one-off uprising of a pro-Trump mob, but a learning lesson for a more disciplined and determined nationwide group of extremists? And what if—instead of holding the line when disputed Electoral College votes are being tabulated this coming January 6—a rogue U.S. Army general claims leadership of the militant movement’s guerrillas, who show up with guns at state capitols, take hostages, plot to kidnap a governor and threaten a coup d’etat?
That’s the premise of an extraordinary war game that was organized in 2022 with the participation of a bipartisan group of senior national security, military, political and law enforcement officisalds and experts. Filmed in a rough replica of the White House Situation Room in a tense, you-are-there tempo, War Game presents the group with an emergency to solve: an armed insurrection that theatens to go far beyond the U.S. Capitol riot of January 2021. Every time the officials seem to have a grip on the unfolding plot, the gleeful game organizers, playing the role of insurrectionists, toss another problem their way. The president, played by former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, is whipsawed by divergent advice and sometimes seems frozen by the unfolding emergency.
The chilling exercise, organized by the nonprofit Vet Voice Foundation, was inspired by a Washington Post op-ed by three retired generals, who in 2021 warned that U.S. military leaders should accept that a sizeable number of their troops and officers share the extremists’ views and might be persuaded to join an insurrection.
“On Jan. 6, a disturbing number of veterans and active-duty members of the military took part in the attack on the Capitol,” they wrote. “More than 1 in 10 of those charged in the attacks had a service record. A group of 124 retired military officials, under the name ‘Flag Officers 4 America,’ released a letter echoing Donald Trump’s false attacks on the legitimacy of our elections.”
“In short,” they wrote, “We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time.”
Trump is neither a character or foreboding off-screen presence in the film. But viewed through the framework of his glorification of convicted Jan. 6 rioters as “freedom fighters,” along with his threats that violence may well erupt in the wake of a loss at the polls next month, it’s reasonable, maybe even prudent, the film implies, to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
That said, I still couldn’t resist asking Janessa Goldbeck, a former U.S. Marine officer and CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, sponsor of the exercise, whether the whole thing was a product of Trump Derangement Syndrome, a left-wing fever dream.
Goldbeck, a former combat engineer officer, took my facecious question in appropriate good humor. You can listen to our lively discussion of War Game at our podcast home on the MSW network, or on Simplecast, or Apple or whatever your favorite listening platform. And do leave a comment. We love to engage with our listeners.
War Games was coproduced, written and directed by Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber in concert with Boat Rocker Studios and Anonymous Content Present, Matador Content Production and The Littlefield Company, Quaker Moving Pictures, Mile End Films and Market Road Films. You can see its trailer here: