While some may have found last night’s episode lacking in action, excitement, and suspense, I though it one of the more interesting nights of “24” to date. And that’s because of the exploration of the legality and justification for torture that occurred regarding the American merc Joe Prado.

Recall if you will those dark days in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Those were frightening times indeed as we weren’ sure if the terrorists would strike again. At that point, there was a discussion on both the left and right regarding the efficacy of torture and when or if it would ever be justified. It was an interesting debate but not very relevant because at the time, it was theoretical. There were no cases where torture would be considered as a means of getting information.

Then the war in Afghanistan began and suddenly, we had hundreds of Al Qaida and Taliban fighters in our custody. At that point, the debate took on an entirely different tenor. It was at this point, that the Administration quietly began what has to be considered one of the most momentous internal discussions in the history of the Executive Branch. The debate went to the heart of what kind of country the United States is, how we viewed ourselves when we looked in the mirror.

It’s a shame that when the Justice Department memos came out that it was the middle of the campaign for the President. This precluded rational discussion of a vital issue. The President’s opponents tried to make the discussion of options regarding the treatment of prisoners into a “mindset” that allowed for the indefensible actions of jailers at Abu Gharaib. Any fair minded reading of those memos shows that not to be the case. Rather, the Executive Branch was dealing with a situation that no other nation in the history of civilization had ever even tried to address; how far should a nation go in defending itself.

Those memos make fascinating reading. Options are proposed, discussed, and in the end, discarded. What emerged from the internal debate was the belief that the prisoners would be treated in accordance with the Geneva convention but that the designation of “enemy combatants” would be used to allow for indefinite detention.

What caused me to revisit this issue was an exchange between Jack and the “Amnesty Global” lawyer David Weiss:

Weiss: All my client wants is due process.

Jack: Mr. Weiss, these people are not going to stop attacking us until millions and millions of Americans are dead. Now, I don’t want to bypass the Constitution, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

Weiss: The Constitution was born out of extraordinary circumstances, Mr. Bauer. This plays out by the book, not in the back room with a rubber hose.

Jack: I hope you can live with that.

Pretty good summation of the debate on both sides.

SUMMARY

Not much happened in this episode. Jack discovers exactly what information Marwan has regarding our nukes and its not good; locations and codes for a thousand or so nukes that for security reasons are always on the move. CTU and DoD are trying to get a handle on all of them but this will take time – time they don’t have because Marwan has already picked a target and has another cell on the way to intercept the in-transit warhead. The interception takes place on the Illinois-Iowa border which is about 50 miles from where I live. And since I live about 50 miles from Chicago, I think it’s safe to assume that the terrorist target is the Windy City. Later on, Marwan has a conversation with the hijackers where they inform him they are 92 miles from the target. That fits in with the distance from the border of the two states.

Meanwhile, CTU catches a break when a Marwan associate, one Yosik Katami slips up and uses the wrong credit card for gas. Realizing this, Katami calls Marwan who orders him to a marina to meet with Prado who will get him out of the country. Trying to stay one step ahead, Marwan makes a call and instructs the man on the other end of the phone to get a lawyer from “Amnesty Global” (Amnesty International?) to intercede on behalf of his associate to keep CTU from getting at what Katami knows. Who did Marwan call? We may never find out but a good guess would be one of the 3 or 4 Islamic “charities” that have been suspected to have members who support terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Certainly most Islamic charities are exactly what they claim to be. But there are a few who have been set up to raise money for terrorist groups.

CTU tracks Katami’s car to the marina where the meet is taking place and where we finally get to see Curtis again. One of the more annoying habits of the writers is to build up a character for several episodes and then have them disappear for a month. Anyone remember who the Secretary of Defense is and what he’s doing? Ostensibly, he’s planning to institute martial law but we haven’t heard from him for weeks.

Curtis observes Katami and Prado as they enter the merc’s boat and has tactical move in. Before they can make the capture, Prado kills Katami and surrenders to CTU, claiming to be an innocent bystander whose boat was about to be hijacked. Prado is taken back to headquarters and Michelle orders Curtis to do what’s necessary to get information out of him. The intervention of the human rights lawyer kills that idea at which time Buchanan calls our brand new President for help.

President Jellyfish (Logan) has just had a revealing conversation with Novik:

Novik: (Referring to Marwan) It’s going to be difficult for him to leave Los Angeles.

Logan: It’s difficult to shoot down Air Force One with one of our own Stealth fighters but he managed to do that. Who knows what he’s planning? I’m sure he’s going to come after me next!

Novik: (With a look of disgust on his face) Mr. President, there’s no indication that’s his plan.

Logan: You don’t know that! I don’t know that! We don’t have enough information to know what his plan is!

Novik: Ed from the Secret Service is on his way over. He has a revised plan. I’m sure he can ease your concerns about your safety.

What a spineless sponge! Whatever bad thing that’s going to happen to him. he deserves.

When “Dugout Logan” refuses to let CTU put the screws to Pardo, Jack, thinking outside the box as usual, offers to resign so that CTU can release Pardo and he can get at the merc as a “private citizen.” Sure enough, Jack tasers the U.S. Marshall assigned to protect Pardo and, after applying a little “pressure” (to Pardo’s thumbs and fingers dislocating same) Pardo reveals a meet with Marwan later that night.

So here’s Jack, once again on the outside of the law chasing after a terror suspect and having to deal with not only the terrorist but American law enforcement as well. Talk about a loose cannon.

Yeah..but he’s our loose cannon.

BODY COUNT

Prado offs Katami. We learn that “at least” 75 people died when AF 1 crashed. Still no figures from the nuke accident.

Jack: 39

Show: 216

SPECULATION

What’s with fat geek Edgar? Is he going to go postal on us? It sure looks like it. When and if CTU gets another associate of Marwan, will Chloe be able to restrain Edgar’s rage? Will he take out Bill Buchanan? Will he take out Chloe?

Just goes to show, you can never tell with geeks. Underneath that mild mannered exterior is, well…a less mild mannered exterior? We’ll see.