Charles Ferguson's documentary provides a good summary of the decisions that led to the mess in post-war Iraq, and offers politically interested audiences something they'd been looking for: a lowdown on the decision making.
Charles Ferguson's documentary provides a good summary of the decisions that led to the mess in post-war Iraq, and offers politically interested audiences something they'd been looking for: a lowdown on the decision making.
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On March 19, 2003, forces from the United States and a handful of allied nations invaded Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. American military leaders expected the conflict to last no more than a few months, and President George W. Bush declared that major military operations were over less than two months later. However, Iraq soon became a dangerous quagmire for American forces, and near the end of 2006, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key architects of America's strategy
in Iraq, resigned from office due to public outcry and Bush declared he was "rethinking" his plan of attack in Iraq as the nation sank into civil war, with U.S. troops the frequent targets of attacks on both sides. How and why did America's leaders decide to invade Iraq? How did they formulate a strategy that went so far wrong? And can anything be done to salvage the situation? Filmmaker Charles Ferguson, a former advisor with the Brookings Institution, examines these questions in No End in Sight, a documentary on the War in Iraq which includes interviews with a number of figures involved in the conflict's decision-making process, some speaking on-camera about the war for the first time. No End in Sight was screened in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This is a movie about the very officials who boasted 'I don't do quagmires' (then-defense secretary Rumsfeld), but who hadn't actually done the planning or simple reading of other people's plans that might have avoided that very fate.
No End in Sight makes one thing clear: Were it not so bloody, the war in Iraq would be destined to become a case study in the nation's business schools.
No End in Sight is the most coolheaded of the Iraq war documentaries, the most methodical and the least polemical. Yet it's the one that will leave audiences the most shattered, angry and astounded.
There's no shortage of opinion, but what Ferguson is aiming for in this fascinating 102-minute dissection is a professional critique of foreign policy.
A persuasive argument that the inception of, and response to, the Iraq War perverted America's ideals and intellect. Its moderate temperament hides obvious roars: Remembering outrage is all that will keep this from again occurring unopposed.
While this incriminating documentary makes a convincing case against the White House, it arrives a bit belatedly, at a juncture when John McCain is just about the only loyalist left still sipping the Bush Kool Aid.
If all that is said is true, then this is like some kind of twisted Orwellian nightmare. It's Animal Farm all over again as a select few individuals make the choices. Terrifying in more ways than one, the film shows the disastrous war, planned out my money grabbing idiots. It's not just the dying soldiers/Iraqi
civilians that highlight the problems, but also the unemployment and destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage. The only protection is offered to the oil fields. Again, the big names refuse to take part. But there are some balanced arguments, which sometimes fall into "he said/she said" retorts. No End In Sight is riveting stuff, and if even just a handful of claims are true, then it's worth taking note.
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