Sizing up enemies

ETHAN REIFF, executive producer of the Showtime terrorism series “Sleeper Cell,” rejects portraying the enemy as one-dimensional villains [“An Enemy Held Closer,” by Lynn Smith, Dec. 9]. He says that “if you really know what drives them and who they are,” you have a better chance of defeating them.

There is a difference between knowing your enemy and humanizing your enemy. First, you have to agree that they are your enemy and that you must do what it takes to eliminate them. Hollywood has skipped over this stage of understanding in our war on terror.

Imagine if, in the early days of World War II, Hollywood made a raft of movies trying to understand and empathize with the Nazis’ point of view, or asking, “What did we do to make the Japanese attack us?” If the producers and stars of present-day Hollywood were around then, I don’t think we would have won that war. It’s certainly a major contributing factor in why we are losing the current one.

ALISTAIR LATOUR

Los Angeles