Jack Bauer Going to West Point
·
Thursday, March 1, 2007
·
Henry Bowles reports that Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Jack Bauer on FOX’s “24,” is going to West Point to try to convince the cadets that torturing prisoners is wrong, despite it being a staple of the show. Apparently, the officers who serve as professors and tactical officers are having trouble selling the “Jack Bauer is a criminal” mantra.
It has been almost twenty years now since my cadet days but it was precisely the opposite in those days. Most of us we incredibly idealistic and positively doctrinaire about following the Law of Land Warfare, the Code of Conduct, and other things we were taught. I guess this is another example of “9/11 Changed Everything.” It’s not a good change.
Related Posts
- None Found
About James Joyner
9/11 didn’t change anything. Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez and Rumsfeld abandoned any semblance of the government’s commitment to human rights.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Certainly the policies set forth in the GWOT and OIF and its aftermath haven’t helped to clear up the impression that torture is not a good thing. With DoD and DoJ lawyers splitting hairs defining torture, we’re not exactly providing the idealistic cadets with much clarity on the issue.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
James,
You followed the law in your day just as they are following the law now. Things have changed since you fell asleep. To catch up I would recommend Steven Miles article ‘Medical Ethics and the Interrogation of Guantanamo 063′ in The American Journal of Bioethics available online at http://www.bioethics.net, from which I quote:
Please note: the medical attention he received was not for his well being, it was to assess how much more torment he could take.
While its hard to have sympathy for al- Qahtani (considered the 12th hijacker), this treatment and worse was also inflicted on hundreds of other, as of yet, untried prisoners handed over for bounty money to American troops in Afghanistan. The Military Commissions Act has made this kind of treatment legal and a legitimate part of our country’s war tools in the endless fight against world terrorism. Should the president deem it so, the treatment these prisoners are experience today could be used against you and your family tomorrow. Not a mantra James, its the law.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
If Qahtani was the 12th hijacker, then who was on the plane?
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
The lie to all of this torture nonsense is that there were any changes made by the administration. All the administration did was try to clarify what was vague.
If the powers that be feel they have to get someone in to tell their students that torture is wrong then I would suggest the chain of command has a much greater problem.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
All the administration did was try to clarify what was vague.
I hope you believe that nonsense, because sad as it is, the alternatives are more reprehensible.
There is nothing “vague” about “treat all detainees with respect, and when in doubt whether something’s acceptable, don’t do it.” It only becomes “vague” when someone wants to break that rule.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
WAR/POP CULTURE: I’m Not A Torturer But I Play One On TV…
Kiefer Sutherland is headed to West Point to explain to rabid “24″ fans among the cadets that torture isn’t OK in real life. While I remain deeply skeptical – putting aside for a second the moral and legal arguments -……
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0