Jack Bauer's Real Enemies

Media Monitor ^ | 1/11/2007 | Cliff Kincaid

[Mike Bates]

If Jack Bauer were in charge of U.S. forces in Iraq, we would have won by now. Bauer is the tough, no-nonsense American hero who defeats America's enemies in the popular "24" series. Bauer would have wiped the floor with al Qaeda of Iraq, the other Sunni terrorists, and the anti-American militias. They would have cried uncle a long time ago. And Bauer would have done all of this without American reporters breathing down his neck.

Bauer will be facing some new enemies on Sunday night, when the four-hour premiere of the new season begins. Based on the previews, Bauer's enemies this time appear to be Chinese. In real life, of course, U.S. troops are battling Islamic fascists in Iraq, Somalia and other places around the world, while the Chinese are perceived as reliable American business partners who might pose a threat sometime in the future.

Jack Bauer battled Muslim terrorists a couple seasons ago, but the Council on American-Islamic Relations got upset and launched a pressure campaign that forced Bauer, played by actor Kiefer Sutherland, to do public service announcements making the elementary observation that not all Muslims are terrorists and that most are peaceful and moderate. Last season's villains on "24" were anti-Russian separatists seeking an independent homeland. They were not Chechen Muslims.

All of this is significant in light of the fact that the terror TV spin-off channel, Al-Jazeera English, recently carried a Riz Khan interview with Dr. Jack G. Shaheen, who contends that Hollywood slanders and stereotypes Arabs and Muslims as enemies of America. His new book is Reel Bad Arabs and he has a documentary out by the same name.

[DogByte6RER]

Jack Bauer...what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was meant to be.

[DogByte6RER]

24 BTTT

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ping

[accuracyauditor]

Is there a risk that the fascination with Angel Bauer may suck people in and unplug their critical faculties? Under the new ethos of "militainment" says media critic Adam Sweeting, “it's as if considerations of patriotism and national solidarity preclude any ethical or political questions” regarding any heavy-handed solutions.

While common people are at liberty to the views they fancy, this tendency will get worrisome when starts affecting those who vow to lead the way to others expose myths and dispel propaganda. Signs are already visible where media activists and security scholars fancy if Jack Bauer has arrived as the new Rambo to help conquer terror. Instead of questioning the creeping in of propaganda as prime time entertainment, some homeland security scholars asked Secretary Chertoff what role would he take if given a chance on '24'. Is this a new embodiment of the tail wagging the dog?