TV REVIEWS : Few Revelations in ‘Dogs of War’

Bill Kurtis, the narrator of tonight’s “Dogs of War” episode on the A&E; cable network’s “Investigative Reports” (at 6 and 10) tells us that the war in the former Yugoslavia has attracted more mercenary soldiers than any since the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.

But this ugly little war has yet to produce a chronicler such as Ernest Hemingway or the photographer Robert Capa, and there’s a good reason: If anything comes across in “Dogs of War,” it is that, for the mercenaries’ part, there is nothing romantic and little virtuous in this struggle.

The mercenaries, who are being paid practically nothing, are mostly past and present British soldiers, some AWOL. Others are civilians, former nightclub bouncers and bodyguards. They all seem to be drawn to the killing fields by the prospect of . . . killing. Says one mercenary: “I’ve always wanted to kill legally.” Another: “We don’t make very good civilians.”

If “Dogs of War” is any indication, a high boredom threshold is nearly as valuable to these men as a high pain threshold, for not much seems to happen with them. They dress in camouflage outfits, clean their weapons, pull pranks on one another, but mostly they just seem to hang out. The viewer may also need a high threshold of boredom.

The only truly dramatic revelations come from Kurtis’ closing remarks, when he tells us that, since this tele-verite footage was shot, several of the soldiers have been killed and the commanding officer has been convicted of gun trafficking and executed.

War is hell. Even for mercenaries.