Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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75 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
$1.86 trillion, August 4, 2007
I just saw this gem at an indy theatre. Films of the subject of Iraq keep getting more powerful.
To be honest, I was thinking of giving it only 4 stars for the reason I've considered that for some other documentaries: they tend to lose track of the fallacies by which we entered Iraq by getting embedded in the discussion of how it should have been better planned. But I'm thinking now that those initial issues have been addressed before, now it's time to move onto something else and this work of art does so.
This is an important documentary because those doing the speaking are mid-level bureaucrats with the federal government. So you're getting the story "straight from the horse's mouth" (or mouths).
The film begins with the history of the Iraq situation. That's covered succintly, leaving nothing out. Then there's one boondoggle after the other; Rumsfeld talking with the press, saying that they keep covering the negative, while the camera and narrative switch to what's really going on, troops dead, Paul Bremer doing some more ridiculous things, more insurgents doing all the more damage.
The troops haven't been protected with adequate armor, there aren't enough of them to cover the arsenals of weapons from which the insurgents--many of whom are fired Bathist intelligentsia and Iraqi military--are getting their weapons. The list goes on and on and on.
The film is very well crafted, in that things keep getting worse. And the reason they keep getting worse is that adminstrations' blunders--which themselves keep getting worse!
There is much discussion of Bushy insiders--almost none of whom have ANY experience in the middle east, and who have NO military experience--who made decisions as if the military didn't exist. Yes, the filmmakers talked with many military figures too, including colonels and generals (some of whom said that, if they'd have been listened to, they'd have insisted that the decision makers heed their calls).
At a rare amusing point, those interviewed refer to the "pretty boys," i.e., the recent college graduates who've been given major positions in the Iraqi govenment with no applicable experience. In one instance, a Georgetown professor refers to one of his recent students whom he ran into in Baghdad. He asked her what she's doing there and she said, she can't believe her luck. She's responsible for setting up traffic control in Baghdad. The professor asked her if she has any experience or training in urban planning or anything remotely applicable to the position, and she answered in the negative--this while there are scenes of Baghdad traffic problems enough to make you laugh. (The commentor said simply that, "Daddy made a campaign contribution, so sonny (or daughter) gets a major job in Iraq."
Where does the number in my "title" come from? By the end of the film, they add up all the "war" has cost us, what it will cost for recovery of troops, etc., etc., etc. What it's cost us so far is that number, approaching two trillion dollars.
Then you wait to see this incredible film, think of that amount increasing daily.
Get everyone you can to see this fine film. They may be chuckling in some places, sobbing in others. But that's the price one pays for a fine, fine documentary.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
best iraq documentary?, August 21, 2007
You probably won't learn anything new about the Iraq war from this understated documentary, nor should you expect any sort of neutrality. But the catastrophic consequences of the war for our country and the whole world make its chronological review of the basic facts worthwhile, while the cinematic power of pictures as compared to reading books about Iraq puts a very human face on the war. Director Charles Ferguson's film is a searing indictment of the recklessness, gross incompetence, and political cynicism of the Bush administration. He interviews soldiers, diplomats, Bush appointees, state department officials, and Iraqis, all of whom tell their personal stories about working hard at a noble cause only to discover that the emperor and his minions had no clothes and no conscience. Their sense of betrayal is heartbreaking. The film makes it clear that the administration's incompetence and hubris doomed their naive plan from the start, and that five years later there is still "no end in sight." Director Charles Ferguson is not your run-of-the mill film maker; he earned a PhD from MIT, founded and then sold his company Vermeer Technologies to Microsoft in 1996, was for three years a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and has been a visiting professor at both MIT and Berkeley.
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36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
A President Totally Disengaged with NO END IN SIGHT, August 18, 2007
Put simply, what frightens the dickens out of me in this masterfully done Charles Ferguson documentary is that,all the time our American troops are dying needlessly in Iraq (and elsewhere for that matter) we have a Commander in Chief who is truly and totally disengaged! NOW THAT IS FRIGHTENING.This is very reminiscent of other regimes such as Marie Antoinette and Louis spending money and rousting about Versailles while France starves and the uprising begins!
Ferguson's case is airtight, and I doubt that even Bush himself could wriggle out of this scorching indictment of his administration's failed handling of the Iraq Mess.Ferguson's case is expertly laid out and pretty compelling: the Bush people have made errors in judgment peppered liberally with stubbornness,arrogance with complete disregard for the a majority of American anti-sentiment with the Iraq War.Ferguson builds his case by using the testimony of bureaucrats who served and saw the continued unfolding of the horror we know as the Iraq War.
Will your blood boil? Probably yes, but only if you have finally been convinced that we are ruled by a truly disengaged man.If this light bulb goes on, take a look in horror for the first time and act! Ferguson keeps things very low key, and Ferguson keeps it quite simple;that is the amazing part of this documentary!: Ferguson does not inflame the viewer-the viewer will simply get inflamed!
This is beautiful and compelling documentary filmmaking of the highest degree. Truly a must-see!
I saw this at a private screening with a Q & A after.Fortunately, many in the audience had voted for George W. Bush and supported his policies, but had grown weary and suspicious of his administration.THAT WAS ENCOURAGING.If you love our current President and his handling,or non handling of this War, I challenge you to see this film and decide for yourself.Even the most closed-minded jury must be swayed by an airtight case expertly prosecuted!
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