Review of No End in Sight (2007) by Ernie P — 20 Apr 2008

"No End In Sight" is a well-done documentary on the events surrounding the fall of Baghdad in 2003 and the subsequent U.S. attempts at reconstruction. I say "attempts" because the first argument that the film makes is that there was not a proper plan devised for the complete reconstruction of Iraqi society after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The film then goes on to argue that the officials in charage of the Iraq reconstruction were ignorant, incompetent, and unprepared for the real situation on the streets of Baghdad.

Is this really news to anyone, though? The film added legitimacy and proof to arguments to which I already subscribed. That's both my biggest praise and biggest complaint about "No End In Sight". I already know that the Bush administration has failed in Iraq, but now I want to know why. "No End In Sight" simply doesn't answer that question for me. Like the title of a Collective Soul album, there are "hints, allegations, and things left unsaid" but I want to know more. The names of the people who refused to be interviewed for this film appear on the screen like bullet holes, and it's pretty clear at whose feet the fault is placed. In terms of hints, "No End In Sight" hints on more than one occasion that the incompetence and ignorance shown by American leadership was willful. The president himself is not as large a presence in the film as I thought he would be, for it's those immediately beneath him whose actions (or lack thereof) are analyzed most. Why was the president either not properly informed or willfully ignorant of what was going on? Something to do with oil perhaps....

....but that's a hint that's given early in the film but never really explored after that. The danger in going that far could result in a film less documentary and more political propaganda, like the well-known Internet film "Zeitgeist". "No End In Sight" does an admirable job of sticking to the facts and not making political statements without a shred of evidence, but I do think it's time for a sequel - perhaps an in-depth investigation into why this war in Iraq was carried out in the first place. I have a scary feeling that the results of that film would be similar to what I experienced with "No End In Sight" - a confirmation of beliefs I had all along. If it ever gets made, that film would be truly scary.