Political commentary on NCIS:Los Angeles

I was recently watching the episode "Special Delivery" (2x04) of NCIS:Los Angeles which handles the selling and distribution of Iraqi cultural monuments that were stolen when the Iraqi National Museum was ransacked in the early days of the invasion.

I still remember incredibly well the day that the Iraqi invasion started. It seemed so strange that something like this was happening. But then again, the whole world changed 11/9 so it came as no surprise. It was surreal to know that in Iraq the USA army was attacking the country because of Osama Bin Laden and claims that they had weapons of mass destruction. At the time my nation supported the Iraqi war. Now, 10 years later, no one here supports it, we´re all completely against it.

I remember having learned in history in elementary school that the area in the Middle East where Iraq is located is one the oldest areas where civilization has thrived and that they had in their museums some of the best preserved and incredible pieces of old history. I have always been a history buff and this really fascinated me.

So it struck me when the news came that the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad had been left unattended and the staff members had fled in order to ensure their safety. And the US army did nothing to secure the museum so the second there was no staff member there people ran in and stole and ransacked valuable historical items. Some of the most important historical relics in the world where stolen in those days and no one knows what happened to them. It´s in my opinion a historical travesty. It´s sad that these incredible things are now lost forever. And the US army has a part fault in that.

So when I was watching the episode they were discussing the Iraqi invasion and how valuable items had been stolen from the museum, Callen said (paraphrased):"While the US army did not bomb the building, they failed to secure it adequately. Not our finest hour".

And at that moment my jaw dropped. Was I really hearing not only a political commentary but also, in a way, an acknowledgement of one thing that went badly during the invasion. And indeed it was.
That gave me a great deal of thought and the beginning days of the Iraqi invasion came back to my mind and what I thought of it at the time and what has changed. And this is perhaps one of the ways TV can surprisingly cause us to think about things and how we interpret history.