When Fictional Presidents Fight Genocide

by Martha Heinemann Bixby

Published January 11, 2009 @ 07:45PM PT

The new season of Fox's "24" covers not only the usual counter-terrorism, but the threat of genocide in the fictional African country of Sangala.

I posted in November about the bridge special episode, "24: Redemption", which helped transition the plot to DC, and gave the main character, Jack Bauer, some much needed sympathy points when he fights to protect innocent Sangalese children from the threat of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

With tonight's 2-hour season premier it becomes clear that the threat of genocide in Sangala will become a major plot-line in season 7 of "24". Like I mentioned in November,

Someone once told me that you know your issue has become "popular" when it appears on primetime television.  Darfur specifically was featured in episodes of "The West Wing" and "ER" in the past few years.  Never before (at least to my knowledge) has the issue of genocide propelled an entire two-hour special.

I'll now update to say that contemporary issues of genocide have never been the subject of a major plot-line on a hit, prime-time TV series (would love to hear of other instances where genocide is mentioned in popular TV, though - please mention in the comments).

Tonight on "24", on-going genocide isn't merely lamented, or given "band-aid" type solutions... there are now plans for a full-scale US invasion.  "24" definitely doesn't do anything half-way!  (Spoiler alert below!)

The genocide in Sangala is "Worst mass murder in Africa since Rwanda". And, since "The UN's paralyzed...while those people are being butchered by that madman,"  "We have to go it alone".

The "24" President Allison Taylor weighs the risks, of course: "Putting American lives at risk is the hardest decision I've ever had to make.  But it's one that has to be made".  It has to be made because she doesn't want the death of so many innocents on her conscience (if only our real presidents felt that way - and did something about it).

In an interesting (and uncharacteristic) veiled pot-shot at the Bush Administration, President Taylor threatens to sack the Secretary of State because he won't support the mission to stop the ethnic cleansing in Sangala.  But shortly there-after the Secretary of State is attempting to get skeptical reporters on the side of intervention: "this isn't a tribal war, this is a genocide."

In the most thought-provoking piece of the plot line, President Taylor argues that a full scale intervention of US forces only way to stop the full-scale slaughter of innocent civilians.  I am as aware as anyone of the dangers of unilateral invasion (see: war in Iraq) but I also can't help but sometimes wonder what if the US really could just go in and stop genocide?  This episode of "24" does a good job of answering that question when President Taylor says, "Our soldiers are the ones who deserve your thanks" because they're the ones putting their lives on the line.  Until we reach the day of genocide-fighting robots, it's going to take international cooperation and respect for international institutions and norms to successfully intervene.

Like the bridge episode, this episode presents great opportunities for the anti-genocide movement (awareness) but also causes some serious problems.  Namely, the constant disparaging of the United Nations and international cooperation, and the idea that US troops are the only way we're going to stop genocide.  Because that's clearly off the table, at least in Darfur, so it can't continue to be an excuse for not trying absolutely everything else to stop the genocide.

It will be interesting to see where "24" takes us and the US troops it proposes to send into battle to fight genocide.  Stay tuned!

Check out my personal blog for a genocide mention by genocide mention "live blog" of tonight's episode.