Oldie but Goodie: No End in Sight

A jaw dropping account even if you already know the story.

The Wonks of War

For those eager to learn more about what went wrong in Iraq, there's No End in Sight.

By Kelly Vance

So how did we lose the war in Iraq? Let us count the ways. Or rather, let Charles Ferguson's devastating new documentary, No End in Sight, total up the blunders for us.

Berkeley resident Ferguson, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote, produced, and directed the film, his first, to provide what he calls "a rigorously accurate, comprehensive film about Iraq" and the United States' involvement in that country.

Because Ferguson is a political scientist, No End in Sight differs from the documentaries and narrative films that have tried to explain America's adventure in Iraq anecdotally. In place of the subjective tone-poetics of Iraq in Fragments, the foot soldier's slice of life in Gunner Palace, or the behind-the-scenes broadcast-media politics of Control Room — all worthy films in their own right — Ferguson's chronicle trots out a procession of policy wonks: think-tank advisers, former government officials from both the United States and Iraq (those who agreed to talk, of course), and journalists, plus a few military thrown in for emphasis. 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. (more....)