Adam Kuhn & The Movies: No End In Sight
Synopsis: No End in Sight is a documentary film that focuses on alleged serious mistakes made by the Bush administration in the two-to-three-month period following the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The film portrays these errors as the cause of ensuing problems in Iraq, such as the rise of the insurgency, a lack of security and basic utilities for many Iraqis, sectarian violence and, at one point, the risk of complete civil war.
To a large extent the film consists of interviews with the people who were involved in the initial Iraqi occupation authority and the ORHA (the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, later replaced by the CPA, the Coalition Provisional Authority). 35 people are interviewed, many of them former Bush loyalists who have since become disillusioned by what they experienced at the time. In particular, many of those interviewed claim that the inexperience of the core members of the Bush administration—and their refusal to seek, acknowledge or accept input from more experienced outsiders—was at the root of the disastrous occupation effort.
Among those interviewed are:
According to No End in Sight, there were three especially grave mistakes made by L. Paul Bremer, the head of the CPA. The film cites these three mistakes, as well as many others, as the cause of the rapid deterioration of occupied Iraq into chaos.
My Take: Not your typical Bush-bashing documentary, this film takes an in-depth look at the events and decisions that have shaped Iraq into the quagmire it is today. The oil agenda plays sparingly little into the film while the film creator exposes the individuals and groups that have made inconceivably poor decisions in organization and execution of the plan for the new Iraq.
This documentary does a great job of capturing the spirit and emotion of the Iraqi people, as well as many of the American and UN forces involved. While most of the story is told from the viewpoints of frustrated American and UN personnel, there are plenty of clips that document Iraqi citizen’s feelings on Americans.
What I found most interesting and intriguing were the politics that have not been covered in regular media. While much of the blame for the current circumstances can trace its way back to Bush and his administration, you’ll be surprised to see how oblivious Bush and his administration were to the whole situation.
My Beefs:
My only criticism with this film (and many others like it) is that it documents the events up to the current situation without making and incite towards a solution. It’s easy to criticize the decisions made, but if you are ready to criticize, then you should also be ready to provide a better solution.
Kuhnometer: 8.0 / 11
Trailer:
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