Real Soldiers and TV Torture

Great nugget from Jane Mayer's New Yorker story this week on the politics of TV's 24:

This past November, U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean of the United States Military Academy at West Point, flew to Southern California to meet with the creative team behind “24.” Finnegan, who was accompanied by three of the most experienced military and F.B.I. interrogators in the country, arrived on the set as the crew was filming. At first, Finneganâ€"wearing an immaculate Army uniform, his chest covered in ribbons and medalsâ€"aroused confusion: he was taken for an actor and was asked by someone what time his “call” was.

Finnegan's purpose for the visit, by the way? To try to convince 24's writers that the show's constant depictions of super-agent Jack Bauer torturing suspected terrorists is damaging to the country's image and to the training of real soldiers.