Don’t Like the War on Islamist Terror? Trash SEAL Team 6.

[Geee]

Commentary Magazine:

Ours is an age dominated by cynicism. That’s especially true when it comes to the way our popular culture has depicted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet in spite of that, the country still longs for heroes. That was made evident by the popularity of American Sniper, a biopic about a decorated member of the Navy SEALs, which became the most popular film in terms of box office in 2014. If any group deserves the title of heroes, it would seem to be the SEALs, whose daring operations against terrorists under difficult circumstances would seem to put them on a plane with the country’s most admired defenders, including those who fought in more popular and easier to understand conflicts in the past. But apparently not, according to the New York Times. Their front page feature in yesterday’s Sunday Times depicted a much darker story that portrayed SEAL Team 6, the unit that has attained legendary status for its successful strike on Osama bin Laden, as a “global manhunting machine” staffed by an unaccountable group of swaggering trigger-happy killers. The story leads one to wonder whether the editors at the Times think the U.S. should be fighting al-Qaeda and other terrorists and, if they do, how do think that war should be fought if not with tough warriors like the SEALs?

 

I don’t quibble with the decision to try and report about SEAL Team 6. The Navy’s special forces have played a key role in fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban since 9/11. Despite the way the Obama administration trumpeted the killing of bin Laden and the success of films like American Sniper, Zero Dark Thirty, and Lone Survivor, which all featured the SEALs, their operations have been understandably shrouded in secrecy leaving plenty of room for enterprising reporters to give us more background and details about how the SEALs work and what they’ve been doing.