To
the list of remarkable documentaries about Iraq, you can add
an excellent new film by Charles Ferguson called No
End in Sight. This picture doesn’t examine
the morality of going to war, or even the questions surrounding
the prelude, such as "weapons of mass destruction. The
film focuses almost exclusively on the implementation of the
war effort, and the occupation of Iraq. It’s as if Ferguson
is saying: assume that we’re going to war, and forget
whether or not it was a good idea—how was this war waged?
He goes out of his way to take a mainstream approach. The
people Ferguson interviews were all players in the invasion
or the aftermath, including such figures as General Jay Garner,
in charge of the initial occupaton, and Barbara Bodine, the
first U.S. ambassador. He also interviews several American
soldiers, who provide perspective on what it’s like
for the troops on the ground.
What
emerges is devastating. A lot of information is presented
in a very clear and logical order so that it all comes together.
There was no coherent plan for the occupation. Bush, Cheney,
Rumsfeld, and their advisors, believed we’d be in and
out of Iraq in a few months. Military advice about the number
of troops needed was criticized and ultimately ignored. When
massive looting broke out in Baghdad after the Americans’
arrival, no one did anything about it, and eventually the
city’s entire infrastructure was wrecked. After Bush
appointed J. Paul Bremer, a man with no foreign policy experience,
to run the occupation, incredibly foolish decisions came one
after the other. Chief among them was the order to disband
the Iraqi army, thus putting half a million armed men out
of work. Huge dumps of ammunition and weapons were left unguarded,
which led to the arming of insurgent groups and the rising
violence between Iraqis and against U.S. forces. Billions
of dollars allocated by the Congress for the war simply disappeared.
Private contractors perpetrated massive fraud, enriching themselves
at our expense, and continue to do so. And to manage Iraq,
Bush sent green Republican kids, right out of school, patronage
appointments, people who knew nothing about Iraq. Meanwhile,
the soldiers didn’t even have armor for their vehicles.
These and many other details make up the film’s story
of disgrace, for which no one so far has been accountable.
The film leaves the question of how the Bush regime could
be so incompetent up in the air, but the implications are
clear enough. They were interested in establishing a political
foothold in the region, which involves but is not limited
to access to oil, and on enriching themselves and their friends.
Nothing else mattered. Not the Iraqis, who have suffered unimaginable
civilian casualties, and certainly not the troops, whose endurance
has been stretched to the breaking point.
One
may question (and some have) whether a film that only explores
the war in terms of competence, rather than the deeper causes,
is worthwhile. But I think such an approach is important,
because even if there is disagreement among the citizenry
about the meaning and purpose of the war, this film makes
it quite clear that there should be no disagreement about
what a fucked-up mess Iraq has become because of the invasion.
And that's a messae that needs to be comprehended if we're
to get anywhere. For even such a film as this, which scrupulously
avoids debating whether we should have gone into Iraq, ends
up confirming the very worst that you’ve heard, and
some you may not have heard. This should be mandatory viewing
for everyone in the government, although I doubt if many of
them are even capable of shame anymore.
To
the list of remarkable documentaries about Iraq, you can add
an excellent new film by Charles Ferguson called No
End in Sight. This picture doesn’t examine
the morality of going to war, or even the questions surrounding
the prelude, such as "weapons of mass destruction. The
film focuses almost exclusively on the implementation of the
war effort, and the occupation of Iraq. It’s as if Ferguson
is saying: assume that we’re going to war, and forget
whether or not it was a good idea—how was this war waged?
He goes out of his way to take a mainstream approach. The
people Ferguson interviews were all players in the invasion
or the aftermath, including such figures as General Jay Garner,
in charge of the initial occupaton, and Barbara Bodine, the
first U.S. ambassador. He also interviews several American
soldiers, who provide perspective on what it’s like
for the troops on the ground. 
What
emerges is devastating. A lot of information is presented
in a very clear and logical order so that it all comes together.
There was no coherent plan for the occupation. Bush, Cheney,
Rumsfeld, and their advisors, believed we’d be in and
out of Iraq in a few months. Military advice about the number
of troops needed was criticized and ultimately ignored. When
massive looting broke out in Baghdad after the Americans’
arrival, no one did anything about it, and eventually the
city’s entire infrastructure was wrecked. After Bush
appointed J. Paul Bremer, a man with no foreign policy experience,
to run the occupation, incredibly foolish decisions came one
after the other. Chief among them was the order to disband
the Iraqi army, thus putting half a million armed men out
of work. Huge dumps of ammunition and weapons were left unguarded,
which led to the arming of insurgent groups and the rising
violence between Iraqis and against U.S. forces. Billions
of dollars allocated by the Congress for the war simply disappeared.
Private contractors perpetrated massive fraud, enriching themselves
at our expense, and continue to do so. And to manage Iraq,
Bush sent green Republican kids, right out of school, patronage
appointments, people who knew nothing about Iraq. Meanwhile,
the soldiers didn’t even have armor for their vehicles.
These and many other details make up the film’s story
of disgrace, for which no one so far has been accountable.
One
may question (and some have) whether a film that only explores
the war in terms of competence, rather than the deeper causes,
is worthwhile. But I think such an approach is important,
because even if there is disagreement among the citizenry
about the meaning and purpose of the war, this film makes
it quite clear that there should be no disagreement about
what a fucked-up mess Iraq has become because of the invasion.
And that's a messae that needs to be comprehended if we're
to get anywhere. For even such a film as this, which scrupulously
avoids debating whether we should have gone into Iraq, ends
up confirming the very worst that you’ve heard, and
some you may not have heard. This should be mandatory viewing
for everyone in the government, although I doubt if many of
them are even capable of shame anymore.