Did you ever leave a movie in a state of terror? Those moments are extremely few and far between. Usually the cause would be an exceptionally well made horror or science fiction film, or a psychological thriller. "No End in Sight" is scary for a different reason. It paints one of the bleakest scenarios I've ever seen. That it is fact-based multiplies this effect tenfold.
The man responsible for "No End in Sight" is its director, writer and producer, Charles Ferguson, a Brookings scholar with no previous work in the film industry. Ferguson has put together a professional, coherent, devastating, fluid and engrossing venture that almost defies the imagination. He has created a searing indictment of how the Bush administration has botched the war effort in Iraq.
This is not a partisan-laden hit piece put together by people who hate Bush and his minions. The testimony comes from near impeccable sources; some of the people charged with running the show from the outset. The discussion of the current situation in Iraq is without hysterics. It is a cold hard discussion of the facts as related to the audience by people like Richard Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State under Colin Powell, from 2001 to 2005, General Jay Garner, retired United States Army general who was appointed in 2003 as Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq but was soon replaced by L. Paul Bremer and other equally compelling and respected members of our government and private sector.
By the end of "No End in Sight" one is oversaturated with so many different thoughts and emotions. Could this all really be true? How could this all have transpired right under our very noses without an outcry from the media? Can this established tragic course still be reversed? What can be done now? Is this a tale of arrogance, ignorance, criminality, suicide, incompetence or some combination of all of these?
The only answer to the previous questions that can be answered with certainty is that what you see is an unvarnished accounting of America's entrance into war with Iraq and the results of that entrance.
I was unable to look away from the screen throughout the entire presentation for fear that I would miss yet another astounding piece of history. History is what "No End in Sight" is. That it is so precise so soon after it has taken place is a marvel of filmmaking. It should be required viewing for all Americans. Part of me hopes that this can at least be partly refuted but I doubt it can. Ferguson will easily cop the Best Documentary statue at next year's Academy Awards, assuming nothing cataclysmic prevents anyone from winning it. That's scary.
