No End in Sight

Campbell Scott Director: Charles Ferguson

Overview

Filmmaker Charles Ferguson draws on over 200 hours of footage to explore the manner in which the fundamental flaws in U.S. policy created the chaos that threatens to plunge the nation of Iraq into civil war. Interviews with a collection of high-ranking officials including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, and General Jay Garner offer candid insight into the ways that insufficient troop levels, the disbanding of the Iraqi military, and the removal of professionals from the Iraqi government contributed to the insurgency that would continue to destabilize Iraq long after President George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" back in 2003, while additional conversations with Iraqi citizens, American soldiers, and renowned analysts offer a more intimate take on the tragic quagmire. A comprehensive dissection of the Bush administration's perplexing penchant for placing those with little military experience, virtually no knowledge of the Arab world, and a complete lack of personal experience in Iraq in charge of an operation that could destabilize the entire Middle East if improperly handled highlights how blatant arrogance and lack of foresight have served as the catalyst for a violent nightmare that shows no signs of ceasing. By affording Americans the rare opportunity to witness the inner workings of the White House, the Pentagon, and Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, No End in Sight presents a sobering meditation on the controversial war that has cost the American people over two trillion dollars, weakened the U.S. military as it strengthens Iran, and claimed the lives of far too many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/30/2007
UPC:	0876964001021
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	NR
Source:	Magnolia Home Ent
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	58,733

Special Features

Interview extras: ; Richard Armitage; Aida Ussayran; Omar Fekeiki; Personal sotry: Larry Diamond - Life Under Saddam De-Ba'Athification; Disbanding the Iragi army - video letter originally produced for The New York Times web site; The CPA; Kidnapping and crime; U.S. Military conduct; Could it have been different?; Was it worth it?; Consequences; Footage of Iraq

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Campbell Scott	Narrator,Narrator
Peter Nashel	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles Ferguson

Charles Ferguson	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Jennie Amias	Producer
Audrey Marrs	Producer
Jessie Vogelson	Producer
Alex Gibney	Executive Producer
David Hocs	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Despite its title, the Oscar-nominated documentary No End in Sight focuses more on the beginning of the conflict in Iraq than its lack of an ending. With help from a wide array of pertinent interview subjects, director Charles Ferguson delves deep inside the corridors of power to examine the perfect storm of decisions made too slowly, and too quickly, that turned the Iraq War into a permanent morass. Or "quagmire," even though Donald Rumsfeld disavowed the possibility that his perfect little war had reached such a messy impasse -- Ferguson nails Rumsfeld twice with the quote "I don't do quagmires." Rumsfeld's cackling jack-o'-lantern of self-satisfaction gives a face to the delusions offered up in No End in Sight, but it's clear there were plenty of other mid-level functionaries making disastrous decisions, either with or without that brashness, as well as numerous well-meaning public servants whose opinions were shut out of the process. Even harder to believe than the United States' lack of an occupation plan, which enabled the looting and destruction of countless cherished national artifacts, was the haste involved in the decision to disband the Iraqi Army. As dissected by Ferguson in parallel interviews with Colonel Paul Hughes and Walter Slocombe, a senior advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the decision to disband moved forward without consulting the most relevant experts, and may have directly spawned hundreds if not thousands of insurgents equipped with deadly combat skills. At least Slocombe, an unwitting guilty party in this affair, was willing to talk on film -- Ferguson notes that other key players "refused" to be interviewed. His preference for "refused" over the less inflammatory term "declined" gives some evidence of Ferguson's bias. Then again, the occasion was so clearly botched in every respect, the heavily critical position seems like the only valid one.