Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan: Kiefer, You're Setting a Bad Example for the Army

What you are about to read is true. I had to say that, because anyone who has evolved beyond homo erectus and has the intelligence to wear shoes on the correct feet will read this and think “this is too amazingly twisted to be real. I mean, this is just plain dumb.” I repeat, to the best of my knowledge, it is true.

Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan thinks that the acts of torture shown on 24 set a bad example for the Army. This is a direct quote: “I’d like them to stop. They should do a show where torture backfires.” Kiefer Sutherland has been invited by the Army to discuss why torture is a bad thing.

At this point, you have just said to yourself “this is too amazingly twisted to be real. I mean, this is just plain dumb.” I warned you. If that wasn’t your first thought, look down. Your shoes are on the wrong feet.

According to Human Rights First, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized such interrogation techniques as sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation, isolation, and exposure to extreme temperatures. Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush have issued memos stating that Geneva Convention III on the Treatment of Prisoners of War is inapplicable to al Qaeda or the Taliban. A report by a Department of Defense working group describes 35 interrogation techniques including face and stomach slapping, removal of clothing, and hooding. Other approved interrogation techniques include the use of dogs for intimidation, waterboarding and denial of medication. Then there are the extraordinary renditions, the ghost detainees hidden from the Red Cross, the secret prisons in Central Europe, and the deportation of the Kulaks.

I’ll bet I snuck that last one past you. The Kulaks were deported to Siberia and Central Asia by Josef Stalin. Interesting that it didn’t sound out of place.

Since the President, the Vice President, the current Attorney General, and the former Secretary of Defense have all been seen singing Cole Porter’s Anything Goes on karaoke night, it is laughable to think that no one will sing along.

But a Brigadier General thinks that 24 is sending the wrong message to the Army. If 24 sets a bad example, I hope no one in the Army has seen The Silence of the Lambs.

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