« We Don't Need No Stinkin' Health Care | Main | Groundhog Day. Or how we learned to love WMDs. »

February 10, 2007

Right-Wing "24" Harming the Military

Ever wonder about the politics behind "24"? There has been a good deal of discussion over whether the show leans left or right. This article should clear up the confusion. Joel Surnow, executive producer of the show, is a friend of Rush Limbaugh, and describes himself as "a right-wing nut job." If you think that tells you all you need to know, you're wrong. The show is actually beginning to harm our military.

Surnow describes the show (and his view of the War on Terror) thus:

The series … is “ripped out of the Zeitgeist of what people’s fears are—their paranoia that we’re going to be attacked,” and it “makes people look at what we’re dealing with” in terms of threats to national security. “There are not a lot of measures short of extreme measures that will get it done,” he said, adding, “America wants the war on terror fought by Jack Bauer. He’s a patriot.”

Surnow's views on torture are particularly interesting, and I urge you to read the full article for further important discussion of this issue and why torture is both ineffective and destructive:

Speaking of torture, he said, “Isn’t it obvious that if there was a nuke in New York City that was about to blow—or any other city in this country—that, even if you were going to go to jail, it would be the right thing to do?”

This part is chilling:

Howard Gordon, who is the series’ “show runner,” or lead writer, told me that he concocts many of the torture scenes himself. “Honest to God, I’d call them improvisations in sadism,” he said. Several copies of the C.I.A.’s 1963 KUBARK interrogation manual can be found at the “24” offices, but Gordon said that, “for the most part, our imaginations are the source. ... He added, “The truth is, there’s a certain amount of fatigue. It’s getting hard not to repeat the same torture techniques over and over.”

As an avid watcher of "24," I'm fatigued with it all, too, and so are others. In November, U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean of the United States Military Academy at West Point, met with the creative team for the show to complain:

[T]he show’s central political premise—that the letter of American law must be sacrificed for the country’s security—was having a toxic effect. In their view, the show promoted unethical and illegal behavior and had adversely affected the training and performance of real American soldiers. “I’d like them to stop,” Finnegan said of the show’s producers. “They should do a show where torture backfires.”

… Finnegan told the producers that “24,” by suggesting that the U.S. government perpetrates myriad forms of torture, hurts the country’s image internationally. Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors—cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”

Gary Solis, a retired law professor who designed and taught the Law of War for Commanders curriculum at West Point, told me that he had similar arguments with his students. He said that, under both U.S. and international law, “Jack Bauer is a criminal. In real life, he would be prosecuted.” Yet the motto of many of his students was identical to Jack Bauer’s: “Whatever it takes.” His students were particularly impressed by a scene in which Bauer barges into a room where a stubborn suspect is being held, shoots him in one leg, and threatens to shoot the other if he doesn’t talk. In less than ten seconds, the suspect reveals that his associates plan to assassinate the Secretary of Defense. Solis told me, “I tried to impress on them that this technique would open the wrong doors, but it was like trying to stomp out an anthill.”

Sadly, Surnow was not impressed.

If you share Finnegan's concerns about where "24" is taking this country, then take note: Surnow is the guy behind Fox's new new/comedy show – the one that is supposed to be the conservative version of "The Daily Show." It airs for the first time February 18.

Posted by Becky at February 10, 2007 12:58 PM