5:41PM
Jack Bauer, torturing hero
By 
Ursula Lindsey | Terrorism US
Ursula Lindsey | Terrorism US
For at least the last few years now, friends have been mentioning their suspicions that the popular US TV show "24" has a right-wing agenda of some sort, or at the very least legitimizes torture by showing its hero constantly "having to" torture terrorists to save LA from a nucler bomb or some such threat. Well, my conspiracy-minded friends, you were all right.
Not only has Human Rights Watch come out with a report that shows that 76 people (excuse me, terrorists) got tortured in "24" last season--and that there's been a huge increase in torture scenes on American TV since 9/11. But a new article by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker profiles the show's creator, Joel Surnow--a good friend of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter who has been invited to the White House and who keeps on a wall of his office a framed American flag that was raised in Baghdad. And who sees no problem with the US torturning its enemies.
If you read the article, you'll learn that the creators of "24" have actually been approached by army and intelligence officials concerned with the shows influence on soldiers and cadets and with the fact that it does not depict realistic interrogation techniques. You'll also learn that the "ticking bomb" scenario--which we are all so familiar with--comes from a French novel set during the Algerian war, a conflict in which torture was endemic. Another example of fact and fiction intersecting.
Not only has Human Rights Watch come out with a report that shows that 76 people (excuse me, terrorists) got tortured in "24" last season--and that there's been a huge increase in torture scenes on American TV since 9/11. But a new article by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker profiles the show's creator, Joel Surnow--a good friend of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter who has been invited to the White House and who keeps on a wall of his office a framed American flag that was raised in Baghdad. And who sees no problem with the US torturning its enemies.
If you read the article, you'll learn that the creators of "24" have actually been approached by army and intelligence officials concerned with the shows influence on soldiers and cadets and with the fact that it does not depict realistic interrogation techniques. You'll also learn that the "ticking bomb" scenario--which we are all so familiar with--comes from a French novel set during the Algerian war, a conflict in which torture was endemic. Another example of fact and fiction intersecting.
Reader Comments (10)
Hah, I was just writing about that article. Very detailed, confirmed my suspicions as well.
Correction: The journalist's name is Jane Mayer. She has written a number of the most important articles on the use of torture and coercion in the 'war on terror'
Thank you Sara. I've corrected the spelling. I'm familiar with some of her work, but at some point got the wrong spelling of her name lodged in my head.
Thanks for the link, Ursula. You are right -- the military is worried "24" is teaching soldiers stuff completely inconsistent with what we claim to be "American values." The U.S. Army issued a brand new manual for interrogation in the wake of Abu Gharib, and then some jackass TV action hero convinces Americans and the world that torture is fashionable and -- worst of all -- actually works.
Hi Ursula,
Nice piece. 24's creator Surnow is also the man behind Fox News's news satire show the Half Hour News Hour. He put it on air to correct a left-wing bias in political satire established by Comedy Central's Daily Show. More http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Half_Hour_News_Hour" rel="nofollow">here.
Sasa, the http://saroujah.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Syria News Wire.
Very interesting about the military getting upset about the pro-torture views of the show (one of the reasons I haven't gotten around to watching what otherwise is apparently very gripping television).
The whole "ticking time bomb" issue is very extensively debated in the Israeli context. Some things I've read, however, expressed serious doubts that such a situation ("the ticking bomb") ever really occurs and instead is a very weak justification for torture.
And not to flog a favorite issue of mine, but torture has come up a lot in the Battlestar Galactica tv show -- on several occasions both sides have used torture but it is usually accompanied by a very agonized debate that the practice is not only profoundly immoral but counter-productive.
Paul (and everyone else),
For the other side of the torture debate -- because there actually are some folks who argue for the use of torture in military operations -- check out some of the French "classic" counterinsurgency theorists such as Roger Trinquier. His short book "Modern Warfare" -- a collection of his thoughts on fighting insurgencies like the FLN in Algeria -- is always recommended reading in the U.S. Army, which nonetheless takes a strong stand against Trinquier's belief that torture has its uses in a counterinsurgency fight. It's a great book, though like the U.S. Army, Abu Muqawama is not a believer in either the morality or the usefulness of torture as a tactic.
The research was done by Human Rights First (formaly know as Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/etn/primetime/
I never could stand watching that show, I think it was the low-key Americanism.
If it comes down to a matter of saving thousands of lives, then torture is not only an option, it's a mandate for the persons in charge.
Since the threat of nuclear terrorism is only going to increase, people better start to get stronger stomachs, because if a bomb goes off -- the time for squeamishness will be over with.