Popcorn, Soda, and Goobers - Movie and DVD Reviews and Film Commentary

No End in Sight (imdb | dvd)

As the presidential primaries heat up and we go into what looks to be one of the most interesting and most important presidential elections in recent memory, we here at Popcorn, Soda and Goobers would like to take some time to encourage our readers - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents - to vote. And, the first step in making your vote count is to get informed! And, hey, movies are a great way to start. Obviously, movies might not be entirely unbiased (I’m looking at you Michael Moore.) but they might just open your eyes to issues and events that you glossed over when skipping through the New York Times in search of the comics.

One great place to start is No End in Sight, a documentary which delves into the politics and strategy surrounding the Iraq war. Unlike many movies made about the Iraq war, this one does not attempt to shock and sadden with tragic individual experiences, but instead focuses on the bigger picture and on informing the viewer of the many grave fallacies in policy and decision making which lead to the unfortunate situation we now have in Iraq. The film doesn’t draw from outsiders who are second guessing the Bush Administration, but instead interviews former senior advisers who were ignored and ultimately ostracized for their views. These include the Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson, and the original ambassador to Iraq Barbara Bodine as well as several members of the Office of Recovery and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) which was the original group charged with rebuilding Iraq which was understaffed and mostly ignored before it was dissolved and replaced with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the group responsible for many of the poor decisions which ultimately lead Iraq into insurrection and chaos.

To those who followed the Iraq war closely, this movie probably sheds little new information. Any casual observer would probably realize that a plan to conquer and occupy a nation should include a plan to provide rule of law, protect existing infrastructure, and respect the country’s culture. We all know that this was not the case in the United States’ approach to the invasion of Iraq. Our invasion lead to widespread looting, the destruction of national museums, and loss of any semblance of governmental infrastructure. Furthermore, decisions in reconstruction which followed included disbanding the Iraqi military and the attempt to eradicate all old members of the Sadaam Hussein’s Ba’ath party. Instead of working with the Iraqi’s who had the knowledge and experience to rule the country (not to mention the guns), we alienated them.

What’s striking about this movie’s story is not necessarily the piecing together of the chronology of the Iraq war, but instead the inside look at how the Iraq war was handled. What we learn is that there were people with the experience and expertise to lead the country’s reconstruction. Unfortunately, they were ignored as those highest in the Bush administration pursued their own agendas based on faulty assumptions and an ideological view of what it takes to conquer and reconstruct a nation.

Charles Ferguson writes and directs a truly comprehensive and chilling documentary on the Iraq war and it is a must watch for anyone who is interested in knowing the story behind our war in Iraq. While some may argue that it is a bit slanted and presents only one side of the story as Donald Rumsfeld, Jerry Bremer, and Paul Wolfowitz, the main architects of the present situation in Iraq, refused to be interviewed for the movie, one cannot ignore the experience and expertise of those who were interviewed.

4.5 out of 5 votes