Theatre of the Absurd

(T)he people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.--Hermann Goering

I am concerned about the portrayal of the terrorist threat in television series today. Naturalistic theater, it ain't, though is has the veneer of such. Not that commercial t.v. could ever claim to be a bastion of verisimilitude for the lives it portrays; still for many, it is a stand-in. Not only is the threat posed by terrorism distorted, but the response to the threat is, too. In effect, a terrorist lurks behind every episodic bush (Bush?)

In addition to the unrealistic threat portrayal, the advisers of these series seem to have less knowledge about the military than either Bush, Cheney, or the new Sec Def Gates.

Specifically, I will comment on the series The Unit (episode aired 12/12/06), which upset my military and fragile psychological equilibrium. This is a series about Delta Force of the Military Special Operations Forces. Each episode covers a day in the life of the supposed War on Terror.

In this episode, the black Sergeant Major's retired Army NCO grandfather receives a Silver Star, fifty years after his action occurred in Korea. The implication is that the grandfather didn't get a Silver Star in Korea because of Army racial prejudice. Some facts would be helpful here; some will be general in nature, some, more technical.

• The first Army Medal of Honor in Korea went to a black infantry soldier. (On a personal note, my favorite ROTC instructor--MSG Wilbur C. Davis--had a Silver Star from Korea. I served with many other black soldiers with valor awards from Korea.)
• The dates are incorrect. 2006-50=1956. In order to kill a tank as is alleged in the plotline, his grandfather would have had to serve in the 24th Infantry Regiment, which was actually fighting tanks in 1950. (The Chinese couldn't get tanks to the battle area after 1950.) In addition, the enemy (N. Korea) did not employ tanks singly; they were used in formations.
• If the hero of the series, the Sergeant Major, was four or five years old after this action, then he would be well over 50 years old--closer to 60-- today. Either figure is too old for a Special Operations Forces detachment leader, as he is supposed to portray. This is assuming that they are, in fact, led by Sgt. Majors.
• The old soldier also supposedly killed two racists in Mississippi after an incident in a bus station. When was the last time an Army Master Sergeant of any race rode in a bus, let alone, the back of a bus?
• A sub-plot involved a nephew 1st Lieutenant Armor just returned from Iraq. He was wearing a Combat Infantry Badge and no personal awards for valor, service or achievement. Since when do armor types qualify for a CIB? CIB means Infantry, unless the 1 LT was assigned in an infantry slot, which is possible, but not probable. The 1st LT's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was treated as superficially as was the phoney race card.
• Another sticking point (no pun intended) is the Commanding Officer, who is having an affair with the wife of one of the senior enlisted men. If a top secret operator can't figure this one out, he probably shouldn't be on the team. Also, so much for honor and dignity.
  

This is not my usual entry, but it seems illustrative of the fantasy mindset which pervades the representation of war in the media. If a technical adviser can't get these simple historical facts right, then how will there be any correct evaluation of the Iraq misadventure which we are stomping through? Of course, it is absurd of me to imagine that a television program might impart a more correct perspective to the adventure than that offered by many of the supposed news shows.

The public should realize that shows like The Unit are pure theater, in the same sense that the Bush Iraqi invasion was. The only difference is, good American military personnel are dying in this theater.