M Squared

In the HS boys small group , we've taken a break from Blue Like Jazz and to watch and talk about 24 . Our discussion has focused on the moral dilemmas faced by individual characters. Although part of the show's appeal is the ongoing real life struggle to counter terrorism, it hasn't really come up in our discussion. I think that's (in part) because this season of 24 deals with Russian separatists rather than "Islamist extremist". At any rate, I think most of the time we think of counter terrorism as it's portrayed on 24. IOW, the prevention and reaction to terrorists (as directly as possible) by law enforcement or the military. What about the bigger picture? Aren't you forced to deal with the problem continuously by only treating the symptom? IOW, shouldn't we focus on the reasons that people become terrorists in addition to the terrorism. It seems to me that without addressing the former we're going to be fighting the latter for a long time...