I stumbled onto Bush's War last night. Part 2 is tonight I believe. I don't watch TV and rarely know in advance of these types of TV events so I was pretty lucky to catch it. I don't read much about Iraq or politics. They aren't entirely interesting topics to me and I find reading political events day to day provides very little perspective. I prefer to read a book or to watch something like this documentary. It should be required TV for anyone who wants a better understanding of what happened and what is happening. Whether you like or dislike what is happening or who is involved, I found insights into how the primary players function and how their philosophies and beliefs dictate their actions.
I'm reminded of McNamara's comment in Errol Morris' Fog of War documentary that went something like 'empathize with your enemy'. In other words it is impossible to counteract something if you don't understand why it is doing it in the first place. Motivations are important. Saying "Bush is Satan" is as bad as him saying "They want to destroy our way of life". It's a useless piece of propoganda. This documentary will help you empathize with everyone. That's different than saying you'll agree with everyone. It's an incredibly nuanced and fascinating and terrifying story.
2 comments:
I also caught the broadcast last night, and it was incredibly depressing. Watching the story unfold is like seeing a proverbial train wreck in slow motion. Weak leaders become slaves to domestic and institutional political needs, and push the US into making awful policy decisions. The contrast between the enormity of the resources and the sweep of the tragedy is simply breathtaking.
Yes. I spent most of the time distancing myself from it. Like I was watching some documentary from 50 years ago. At the end I brought it forward and the overwhelming feeling was embarassment. Not even embarassment that they had the wrong agenda. But embarassment that even though they had an agenda, they failed miserably to execute.
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