No End in Sight (2007)

A comprehensive look at the Bush Administration's conduct of the Iraq war and its occupation of the country.

Director:

Charles Ferguson

Writer:

Charles Ferguson

Stars:

Campbell Scott, Gerald Burke, Ali Fadhil

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Campbell Scott	...	Narrator (voice)
Gerald Burke	...	Himself
Ali Fadhil	...	Himself
Omar Fekeiki	...	Himself
Robert Hutchings	...	Himself
Paul Hughes	...	Himself
Marc Garlasco	...	Himself
George Tenet	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Bamford	...	Himself
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul Wolfowitz	...	Himself (archive footage)
Colin Powell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Samantha Power
Feisal Istrabadi	...	Himself (as Faisal Al-Istrabadi)

Storyline

Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over: no provisional Iraqi government, de-Ba'athification, and disbanding the Iraqi armed services. The film has chapters (from History to Consequences), and the talking heads are reporters, academics, soldiers, military brass, and former Bush-administration officials, including several who were in Baghdad in 2003.

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Plot Keywords:

the white house | occupation | iraq | iraq war | american politics | 

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Taglines:

The American Occupation of Iraq - The Inside Story From the Ultimate Insiders

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

22 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bez konca

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,533, 29 July 2007

Gross USA:

$1,431,623

Company Credits

Production Co:

Red Envelope Entertainment, Representational Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marine Lieutenant Seth Moulton was elected the US Congressman for Massachusetts' 6th District in November 2014.

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Quotes

Seth Moulton: Are you telling me that's the best America can do?... No, don't tell me that... That makes me angry.

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Connections

Featured in The Hitch (2014)

User Reviews

Not rose colored

As you may have inferred from my many sardonic comments about the neocons, I oppose the war in Iraq. The documentary No End in Sight confirms my opinion not shared by everyone to be sure. But this documentary, written, directed, and produced by Charles Ferguson, an information technology expert and member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution, shows in a rare non-ideological way, the mistakes made up to and during the Iraq invasion.

This is not an incendiary Michael Moore screed; it puts the left's argument in cool, rational light for the right to see clearly and attack as is its right. Ferguson grimly reminds us that information about the absence of WMD's was ignored to further an agenda that began immediately after 9/11 with the order to confirm a link between Al-Qaeda and Hussein's Ba'athist regime.

If you want more insanity, how about the order to disband the entire Iraqi army and Ba'ath party members from government service. That 2004 brought an insurgency of disaffected Sunni men who could have been serving in the necessary local army was no surprise. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's lack of preparation for post-invasion operations is just another depressing fact brought out by this sober, if not surprising or dramatically compelling documentary.

If you read the New York Times, you won't need the information in No End in Sight, but Ferguson puts it together so carefully and responsibly you might want to refer to it as you debate the neocons who claim the surge is working and the end is in sight. They need glasses, and not rose colored ones. But then retaining political power does mighty strange things to one's vision.