Interesting parallel: Pegasus and British soldiers in Iraq

[dadanights.livejournal.com]

Although all of Galactica comments on the nature of war and often I sense intentional parallels to the war the US is currently in, there's a current news item that bears a striking resemblance to events in Pegasus.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1577575,00.html

Two British soldiers were arrested by Iraqi police after allegedly killing civilians. They were locked up in an Iraqi jail, which British forces then stormed with troops and tanks to free them. An Iraqi judge has now issued an arrest warrant demanding their return to custody, and the British are naturally reluctant.

This is pretty much Helo and Tyrol on the Pegasus. We believe in law, but will ignore the law to get back "our" people. Law is in fact one of the themes that crops up in Galactica from time to time. In early episodes, Adama would display open contempt for the civilians attempting to exercise their legal rights, but later we find out that Adama's own father was a lawyer who practiced in the area of human rights. Cylons have no rights, especially on the Pegasus. The constant tension between martial law, representation, and authority... Adama demands a jury trial for Helo and Tyrol, but he certainly skips over legal formalities when he feels the need.

Comments

[dadanights.livejournal.com]

>(BTW, when you say "Adama would display open contempt" - what did you mean, specifically? Which incident?)

Sorry, i don't know specific eps, but i'm thinking of his attitude very early in the show, including the Miniseries, where he assumed command of the fleet and was indifferent to pleas for civil authority and democracy and all that jazz. There was one incident where he actually said, if i recall correctly, "What are you, a lawyer?"

[leadensky.livejournal.com]

The "lawyer" comment might have been from the Astal Queen episode, introducing Tom Zarek. In which case Adama was siding with Roslin against Lee - and against the deal Lee made with a convicted terrorist intent on destablizing the established government and rule of law.

I don't recall Adama in the way you indicate - "indifferent to pleas for civilian authority and democracy". I remember him questioning Roslin's authority to take command of the fleet/civilians, which was shown as being a basic case of Roslin not having a drop of experience at the job, not to mention a dangerously lax attitude towards computer security.

I know that Adama has his faults, and that some fans see him as a threat to the open society that they associate with Roslin, but I'd rather hang the man for the errors he has actually made, rather than assigning him ones that he didn't actually commit.

- hossgal