You really should see this movie, even though it will make you sick.
No End In Sight is a documentary about how Iraq came to be a bombed-out disaster zone on the brink of civil war. Some 3 million people have fled the country, thousands are dead, and most of the living exist without power, clean water or sewage treatment.
Since the fall of Baghdad in 2003, the country has been taken apart, literally and figuratively. No End In Sight explains -- mostly through interviews with Iraqi and American political insiders, journalists and academics -- how the U.S. occupation and "reconstruction" efforts have destroyed the country. Even those with little interest in politics or current events will find this documentary riveting. And terrifying. One assumes it will be shown in schools.
No End In Sight begins with a bit of history to remind viewers that the United States supported Saddam Hussein when Iraq was at war with Iran. Then, after the events of 9/11, it was desirable to find a connection between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein. No such connection could be found. Oh, well.
Bombs away anyhow. In 2003, the U.S. invaded the country and within months combat was over.
Occupation and reconstruction were meant to be followed by the formation of an Iraqi-led civilian government. That's not what happened.
The country was looted. This, the documentary suggests, is the beginning of all that went wrong. The looting in Baghdad got some media coverage when the museum was sacked, but what was not conveyed on the nightly news was that this was wholesale destruction. Power plants, schools and hospitals were looted -- not just contents, but whole buildings, piece by piece. Advisors had offered a list of cultural, religious and historical sites that should have been protected, but nothing was done. America had neither the manpower on the ground nor the interest to stop the looting and re-establish order.
In this wrecked country, with the army disbanded and unemployment probably close to 50%, armed thugs, criminals, insurgents and mercenaries soon took over the streets. Those looking for order and control found it at the mosques. Infighting and chaos spread across the country.
As No End In Sight makes clear, the people calling the shots in Iraq (U.S. President George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, et al) were never in the country themselves and most have never seen military service. Bad decisions were made, and they were decisions that completely ignored expert advice. Furthermore, the United States didn't send enough soldiers in the first place, and those they did send are not being properly protected. The whole thing is a bloody nightmare of ignorance, corruption, greed and arrogance.
It's also a nightmare that's cost the U.S. $1.8 trillion dollars, and there really is no end in sight.
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