As a guy who grew up enthralled and obsessed with the G.I.Joe collection of toys, including having a regular series of action-oriented battle setups throughout my basement bedroom, I do feel that some of the toys in this article are over the line. It concerns me especially the light treatment given to the reality that is at hand. G.I.Joe was make-believe with make-believe villains and, while based on military weapons and hardware, often-times were really just pure-science-fiction and fantasy. But, I still feel that many of the toys mentioned in this article, especially the blown up "Barbie" house shown in this article, seem to me to be way over the line and just exploiting a very harsh reality to sell crap.
Here's a couple of quotes I liked from the article: How would Americans feel if a young Afghan child or young Yemeni had a burning and collapsing twin towers toy? ....They're the kind of things I'd expect to find on the back pages of Soldier of Fortune, not a toy store... This bombed-out version of Barbie's Dream House is sure to excite bloodthirsty passions in even the most passive of preschoolers. Unfortunately, the set does not come with charred infant or mangled toddler action figures.... The bombed-out house really feels like some grown-up trying to exploit what he or she imagines is the current mood, and thinking that kids will want to play with something so gruesomely realistic. Something that looks too much like home is more likely to be disturbing than comforting. It's a creepy toy, like an adult showing pornography to a kid.