Hollywood’s Dirty Dozen

The increased threat of terrorism has prompted radical moves from the US Army, who have recently enlisted a crack team of operatives to ensure the safety of the United States and indeed, the world. This squad of highly trained individuals have saved the employees of an LA skyscraper from terrorist intruders, broken POWs out of Vietnamese prison camps and rescued a captured peacekeeping force from a ruthless international arms dealer. They boast a military CV that would put The A-Team to shame, but this force for justice and good is not a team of Navy Seals, nor a group of ex-SAS mercenaries. Comprising the likes of Die Hard scribe Steven E. De Souza; Joseph Zeto, the director of Chuck Norris hit Missing in Action and Delta Force; David Fincher and Spike Jonze, this group is Hollywood's best - and they're not afraid to use them. Implausible as it may seem, these purveyor's of fiction were assembled last week at the behest of the US military. Their mission was to aid in a brain-storming session that identified potential terrorist targets and planned contingencies for dealing with such situations. The gathering was part of an initiative set in motion in 1999, where the Army awarded the University of Southern California a five-year contract to enlist the resources of the entertainment industry, videogame-makers and computer scientists to advance the military virtual reality simulators. According to Variety, a spokesman the university confirmed that meetings between the army and Hollywood's advisors were ongoing but declined to comment on any recommendations made. Empire Online can certainly see how the man who took Bruce Willis through a terrorist-trouncing tour of Nakatomi tower may have a few helpful hints but why MacGyver writer David Engelbach was there is anybody's guess. As for Ranal Kleiser, he directed Grease for God's sake! The likelihood of ending global terrorism through deployment of a carefully choreographed musical number is not high.