As appears in http://panzeepress.com/20071003.pdf
“…we will bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and supplies…and freedom.”
President George W. Bush
State of the Union Address
January 2003
Three months before major combat operations in Iraq began, President Bush continued misdirecting the American citizenry away from his administration’s agendas, saying only all the right things. A scant five months later, Bush proclaimed those same major combat operations had ended and the U.S. had prevailed – “Mission Accomplished.”
You can find these and other Bush quotes on “The Rights and Aspirations of the Iraqi People” on the White House website. Interestingly, the page hasn’t had an update since June 2004, and as we enter the last quarter of 2007, it’s easy to see why – with the Iraqi civilian death toll reaching over 650,000 (that’s six hundred fifty thousand) people, pouring over presidential promises can only exacerbate the tragedy and high crime of the Iraq war. A presumed sense of patriotism and our bend for “rubbernecking” has the American media focusing on American casualty figures (in late 2007, it creeps towards 4,000). No small number in itself, yet overall this is less than 1% than the number of Iraqi civilians that have died since the invasion began…
…unless, of course, you wish to add the 2,955 American fatalities the Bush administration willfully created in its attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Oh, no wild conspiracy theories for you, eh? Two 100-story buildings collapse in a 10 second freefall because of a fire…enjoy your Kool-Aid.)
Charles Ferguson doesn’t spend a whole lot of time on 9/11 or Bush’s polished rhetoric in his feature film documentary, “No End in Sight.” A 2007 Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, the film makes no effort to spin or cajole the audience to a particular viewpoint – Ferguson as writer/producer/director attempts to inform, not persuade. “No End in Sight” tells the story of the creation and prosecution of the Iraq war, interspersing interviews with the top administration officials responsible for the reconstruction with footage from the streets of Baghdad – more footage than you’ve ever seen on any television or news channel here in the States.
The film’s impact depends mostly on how much prior knowledge viewers have regarding the administration’s motivations and policy choices for the war and for Iraq. Given that this is likely very low for most, watching the film becomes a chilling, sobering experience. There’s no chance to roll your eyes while liberal wonks rail against the neocon windmill – the only opinions offered come from the mouths of those the Bush administration placed in charge of the Iraqi reconstruction. The film focuses on the timeline of the war and the reconstruction, the decisions made during this time, and the people that made those decisions. The interview subjects speak to the impact of those decisions, and the footage of life in Baghdad reveals their results.
Our agenda … is freedom and independence, security and prosperity for the Iraqi people.
President Bush
United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
May 2004
For everything Bush proposes to bring to the Iraqi people, death rarely gets a mention.
After a brief historical perspective (Iraq-Iran war, Kuwait invasion, U.N. embargo of Iraq), “No End in Sight” cites National Security Presidential Directive 24 as the Bush administration’s first major gaffe. Despite all other pre-invasion planning, “Post-War Iraq Reconstruction” is issued in January 2003, less than sixty days before the invasion. More controversially, the directive places reconstruction control in the hands of the Defense Department. The Pentagon creates the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), and the film includes lengthy discussions with ORHA personnel in Baghdad during 2003, including retired Army general Jay Garner (ORHA Director), retired Army colonel Paul Hughes (Director of Strategic Policy), and Barbara Bodine (Ambassador for Central Iraq/Baghdad). None of these key personnel would remain with ORHA after 2003, and suspicions arose that their departure had more to do with their reticence to implement near-sighted and detached policy decisions than anything else.
Troop levels and troop armament were given due consideration for the invasion, but at best a scant whiff when it came to occupation and reconstruction efforts. While the Iraqi people initially celebrated the liberation from Saddam Hussein (Baghdad footage shows a variety of celebratory moments during early 2003), the lack of post-war planning handcuff the ORHA’s Baghdad personnel, and with little or no troop support, widespread looting and plundering begins. No martial law is implemented, the Baghdad Museum and the Baghdad Library – keep in mind this is one of the oldest cities in the world – are emptied or destroyed. American troops protect only one building in the entire city – the Oil Ministry. A sense of lawlessness prevails, and a city begins to destroy itself.
The film continues the story with the formation of the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 which takes over sovereign control of Iraq and replaces ORHA. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice – and their various minions – are continually cited in the film as the people making the decisions. Few, if any, visited Iraq, and they continually ignore all the planning and assistance offered them by the Chiefs of Staff and the State Department. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice get mentioned over and over throughout the film as each catastrophic policy choice is described and their devastating effects laid bare. President Bush? You see him every now and then in his speech-ifying postures and pithy quotes, but his absence during the policy discussions and determinations end up portraying him only as a talking head, not a head of state.
Enter L. Paul Bremer, who would replace Jay Garner as head of ORHA (until it is disbanded) and heads the CPA from May 2003 to June 2004. He enacts sweeping, uninformed decisions regarding post-war Iraq despite his isolated visits and, even after he arrived in Baghdad, his “rule by fiat” from within the highly protected Green Zone in central Baghdad. The film uses clever graphics to give a clear sense of this Green Zone – a tiny, insulated portion of central Baghdad, surrounded by 7 miles of blast wall. The footage on the ground rarely ventures into the Green Zone, but frequently shows Iraqi people piled against the walls and the entrance seeking aid, protection, and all manner of assistance.
The lawlessness and looting continue unabated, with no troops to offer security. The search for WMD succeeds only in angering more Iraqis. Kidnappings (almost 100 a day, motivated by money for food), arrests, and a swelling insurgency cause the Iraqi people to lose confidence in their newfound “liberators” and seeking alternative solutions to the promise of democracy that exists only in vaporware. The citizenry begin to turn to the Islamic mosques for answers and assistance. Interviews with American military personnel and journalists in Baghdad repeatedly cite a want to do what’s right, but an inability to execute based on choices made back in Washington.
Ferguson makes significant effort to highlight three major decisions by Bremer and the CPA which foment conditions in Baghdad. First, the choice to halt the formation of an interim Iraqi government allows the lawlessness to continue and escalate. Next, the “de-Baathification” to remove civilians supposedly loyal to Saddam (himself a Baathist) in truth only removes all the Iraqi professionals from employment, from assisting with the formation of a new government, and widens the chasm between the smattering of Americans trying to rebuild a country (Ambassador Bodine mentions the “125 Americans to administer a country of 25 million”) and the citizens of that country.
Finally, the point which Ferguson felt so important he returned for second interviews with his subjects to get further detail – the disbanding of the Iraqi army. Few average Americans, it could be supposed, had a genuine appreciation for this choice which, again, was made by those in Washington and not by those in Baghdad. Not only did this remove 300,000 potential safety/security personnel from potential employ – personnel who were standing there, waiting and wanting to lend a hand (the Americans made a point during the invasion to discourage fighting, offering them sanctuary and employment during the occupation) but it also disenfranchised those same 300,000 trained military personnel, negated their value, and put them on the streets, unemployed.
These same trained military personnel, now unemployed, knew where all the weapon and ammunition dumps were located in Baghdad – the same dumps that the American occupational force, woefully undermanned, were unable to guard. Ambassador Bremer made the choice to disband the Iraqi army on May 23, 2003.
I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.
Vice President Dick Cheney
Larry King Live, May 30, 2005
Ferguson also highlighted the U.N.’s efforts in post-war Iraq, describing in detail their efforts to create an “Anti-Green Zone” to offer a point of hope for the Iraqi citizens. The U.N. sent their High Commissioner for Human rights, Sergio Viera de Mello, into Baghdad in May 2003, and the film depicts de Mello in the streets of Baghdad, trying to foster communication and hope. Ambassador Bremer met with de Mello only once (Ferguson retains a portion of one interview with de Mello as he describes his frustration in dealing with Bremer from the confines of the Green Zone). In perhaps the most striking moment of the film, you are witness to the destruction of the U.N. building in September 2003, resulting in de Mello’s death.
“No End in Sight” reaches no conclusions and makes no accusations – Ferguson leaves the facts to speak for themselves. He makes no suggestions for further action, intending for viewers to take for themselves what might be done. He makes no mention of Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force meetings in early 2001, nor of the extensive pressure placed upon the newly formed Iraqi government to complete its efforts to award 75% of Iraqi’s oil revenues to Big Oil’s major players. He makes non mention of the permanent military bases being built by the U.S. in Iraq. He makes very little mention of the private contractors like Blackwater and their role in encouraging the insurgency (Blackwater having no fussy Geneva Convention to define its activities), beyond the disregard they had for the Iraqi population. You witness footage of Blackwater personnel driving along and opening fire for no apparent reason, and the capture of four Blackwater personnel in Fallujah – charred human carcasses being dragged through the streets, followed shortly thereafter by the wholesale leveling of the city. As the film nears the end, though, it does make a clear point to illustrate the $1.2 trillion dollar cost of the war.
Charles Ferguson and “No End in Sight” figures the facts can speak for themselves.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.
The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government.
We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.
Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence,
whether sought or unsought,
by the military industrial complex.
The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.
We should take nothing for granted.
Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry
can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense
with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Farewell Address
January 1961
One Perspective 