In fact, I never looked at it for intelligent commentary on terrorism or anything, if only because IMO, the gimmick format precluded this, especially when combined with counter-terrorism, which they decided was the way they were going. The first season was more of an action-crime thriller, than related to 9-11 and the War on Terror, and the show was originally promoted as a kind of "busiest day ever" deal. "I'm federal agent Jack Bauer, and this is the longest day of my life," was part of the intro to every episode. They could have done just about any kind of story with that, and the problem was the 9-11 happened during the first season, and everyone became obsessed with THAT kind of story, so that's where they yanked the storylines. Making the show about terrorism was pandering to the climate, so it should not be surprising that there was not much intelligent or in depth exploration or examination of the issues. I got the impression they originally intended the show to be about an ensemble cast dealing with crises and action plots over the course of the day, and Keiffer Sutherland did such a good job selling Jack Bauer, that he stood out even more than as the main featured character, and gave them license to eliminate their female lead for surprise value, and from there it turned into the Jack Bauer show.