Bush's War on PBS frontline

[shakenbake]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.bush24mar24,0,1175389,print.story
For 4 1/2 hours, PBS' 'Frontline' examines, explains 'Bush's War'

By David Zurawik

Sun Television Critic

March 24, 2008


Last month, an essay in The New York Times asked the question: Is PBS still necessary?

The newspaper reaped a whirlwind of angry and eloquent responses in the affirmative, but nothing shows the necessity and continuing cultural importance of PBS like the two-part Frontline documentary titled Bush's War that starts tonight.

No one in television has covered the war in Iraq with as much diligence and passion as Frontline in dozens of reports. And that goes back to the time of the run-up to the conflict when The Times was printing stories on its front page about the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

While some of the Times stories that carried the byline of Judith Miller have since been called into question, the work of Frontline stands tall - and Bush's War is at the apex of that effort.

If you watch only one report or read one article in connection with the fifth anniversary of the war, make it this 4 1/2 -hour film. It will make you among the best informed as to how America came to find itself in the conflict and why so many things went so wrong on the ground in Iraq.

Starting with Sept. 11, 2001, and continuing through last year's troop surge, writer and director Michael Kirk crafts a compelling TV narrative that is a triumph of journalism and filmmaking.

The journalism part involves gathering, processing and verifying so much information in one place.

Kirk and reporter-producer Jim Gilmore focus on moments of passage - the reaction within the Bush White House in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, the decision to invade Iraq, and the confusion when it became apparent that America was going to have to occupy the defeated country but had no plan on how to do so.

At every turn, memos from key players are shared with viewers, while participants are interviewed on-camera. And, then, their written and spoken words are cross-checked with other participants and accounts for verification.

Critics from the right have charged Frontline with liberal bias over the years. But while Bush's War feels almost Biblical in its ultimate condemnation of the president, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld for their execution of the war, the documentary includes officials from all sides of the issue. Such high-level Bush administration players as Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, and L. Paul Bremer III, who served as American administrator in Iraq in the early days of the war, are interviewed extensively.

But so much information would be impossible to process if not for the deft touch of director Kirk, who wraps all the data in a visual tapestry reminiscent of Alan J. Pakula's 1976 feature film All the President's Men. As the narration tells viewers of secret meetings, internecine feuds, backroom deals and political back-stabbing at the highest levels, viewers are carried along on a river of images suggesting a government run behind closed doors - both in Washington and Iraq.

Ultimately, Bush's War might also come to be judged a first-rate work of history. It certainly feels like history with its richly textured and strongly supported narrative of cause and effect helping explain a bewildering rush of events that have left thousands dead.

But it is still too soon to make that call.

For now, just enjoy the documentary. Clear some time tonight and tomorrow to watch Bush's War - and be thankful that there is still a public television system in this country that can produce such stellar work.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Just watched it again...great stuff.

[shakenbake]

I watched the first part last night and found it really fascinating. It seems really well researched and done. It was amazing some of the power struggles going on between the CIA and Pentagon. Cheney and Powell etc. Anyway second half is on tonight so I suggest watching it. I think you can also watch the first half on the pbs website if you are interested.

[W*GS]

One need not waste 4 1/2 hours in front of the tube. I can tell you all about Bush's War in one sentence:

"The most colossal ****up in American foreign policy since Vietnam."

[BroncoBuff]

I'm still on Part 1 ... it's long.

Part 1 is 2:30 - that's longer than most movies. And it has a fair amount of stuff from previous Frontlines ... but it is comprehensive and very well researched. Lots of good interview subjects too - like all Frontline episodes. It's far beyond anything any other electronic media has done. I can't imagine the Times questioning PBS. That seems odd.

[elsid13]

It is extremely well done, and one of those things that in later years will help us understand what went wrong and give us a study case on what not to do. Frontline is one the best programs on TV.

[Rohirrim]

Really depressing. One of the guys they speak to most often on that Frontline is Thomas Ricks. He wrote a book called Fiasco. This Frontline encapsulates that book. Hard reading, but worth it. It points out Bush's greatest inherent skill: His almost supernatural ability to choose the most incompetent person possible and to put them in the worst possible position where they can do the most harm. Couple that with an idiotic and sophomoric world philosophy and you've really got something.

[BroncoBuff]

Really depressing. One of the guys they speak to most often on that Frontline is Thomas Ricks. He wrote a book called Fiasco. This Frontline encapsulates that book. Hard reading, but worth it. It points out Bush's greatest inherent skill: His almost supernatural ability to choose the most incompetent person possible and to put them in the worst possible position where they can do the most harm. Couple that with an idiotic and sophomoric world philosophy and you've really got something.
Yes ... these Frontlines trace 'Fiasco' right down the line. Every decision was the wrong one. Over and over and over, you see moments where the right decision might've changed the outcome, but over and over and over they made the wrong decisions. One in particular, I couldn't help but think that in the wake of Abu Ghraib, Bush should've canned Rumsfeld in Winter '04 and replaced Cheney on the '04 ticket with Powell ... instead, he and Powell and Cheney held a Pentagon news conference praising Rumsfeld :nono: But of course that's just one of dozens of moments in time where they took the wrong turn.

[cutthemdown]

It was a pretty good show I thought. The powers that be just did not think out how to go about handling the Iraqi people after Saddams govt fell. It really is almost like the spoof Team America where the motives are right but we are such a bull in a china shop we are too powerful for our own good. It makes us too cocky and not deliberate enough.

The smart move would have been to use the Iraqi army to control the country after Saddam fell. Disbanding it I think was the single biggest mistake. Bush thinking he could just install fair leaders in one big swoop was
niave to say the least. The first priority should have been security but instead Bush was cocky and wanted it to be over and start the celebration and good times.

Now Bush's 8 yrs are almost over and he really never got to have any good times. It was soon after he took office 9-11 hit. His honeymoon wasn't even over and he got dealt tough situation. The country loved his heavy hand at first but in the end grew weary. Hopefully it won't take another big attack to make people realize radical islam wants to hurt us. We have to keep fighting, just because PBS has made a movie about the war to this point does not mean the ending is final.

The way to make this a victory is by showing the world America will stay and finish the tough jobs. Don't think you can attack us, shoot at our planes, finance terror, invade other countries, develop nuclear weapons because it aint like vietnam anymore, we finish what we start. You won't outlast us to win and you certainly won't outfight us. To give up, leave, let Iraq tumble to the radicals and Iran says, we are easy to beat, kill 4000 of us and we quit.

[Chris]

On the wider issue of PBS's necessity....it's a channel I watch more than any other.

If American intellectualism is on the decline and has been for some time (not really an if) then PBS is the saving grace.

I watch Charlie Rose at least three nights a week. I'd be doing myself a disservice not to.

[BroncoBuff]

On the wider issue of PBS's necessity....it's a channel I watch more than any other.

If American intellectualism is on the decline and has been for some time (not really an if) then PBS is the saving grace.

I watch Charlie Rose at least three nights a week. I'd be doing myself a disservice not to.
Yes, agree totally .... I don't watch it MORE than any channel like you, but I can't imagine not having it. Lots of great programs - all commercial-free, which is especially great for kids' shows. Charlie Rose is hit and miss, but often the guests are great - e.g.: Daniel Day-Lewis and PT Anderson for the hour, Michael Crichton, Coen Brothers, Joe Wilson & Valerie Plame, Tom Daschle, Bill Gates & Warren Buffett, John Grisham ... there's lots of too-cultured opera/classical stuff I don't watch, but I do regularly watch:

Frontline
Charlie Rose
BBC News
Antiques Road Show (better than you think)
Soundstage
Austin City Limits (sometimes)
Nova
Nature (very underrated)
McLaughlin Group
Bill Moyers
Washington Week
Curious George


oops ... forget that last one ::)

[Bronco_Beerslug]

It was a pretty good show I thought. The powers that be just did not think out how to go about handling the Iraqi people after Saddams govt fell. It really is almost like the spoof Team America where the motives are right but we are such a bull in a china shop we are too powerful for our own good. It makes us too cocky and not deliberate enough.

The smart move would have been to use the Iraqi army to control the country after Saddam fell. Disbanding it I think was the single biggest mistake. Bush thinking he could just install fair leaders in one big swoop was
niave to say the least. The first priority should have been security but instead Bush was cocky and wanted it to be over and start the celebration and good times.

Now Bush's 8 yrs are almost over and he really never got to have any good times. It was soon after he took office 9-11 hit. His honeymoon wasn't even over and he got dealt tough situation. The country loved his heavy hand at first but in the end grew weary. Hopefully it won't take another big attack to make people realize radical islam wants to hurt us. We have to keep fighting, just because PBS has made a movie about the war to this point does not mean the ending is final.

The way to make this a victory is by showing the world America will stay and finish the tough jobs. Don't think you can attack us, shoot at our planes, finance terror, invade other countries, develop nuclear weapons because it aint like vietnam anymore, we finish what we start. You won't outlast us to win and you certainly won't outfight us. To give up, leave, let Iraq tumble to the radicals and Iran says, we are easy to beat, kill 4000 of us and we quit.You are one uninformed individual. :spit:

BTW, how much money did you save this year in taxes on Bush's estate tax reel back?

[Chris]

I agree I think he often harps on current affairs a little too much...as with the mortgage crisis and Iraq...it's like a neverending river of experts, though the majority of them are indeed "experts" there is a lot of retreading.

I love his interviews with artists and tech gurus the most.

BBC News I get on BBC America, didn't even realise they had it. BBC America is another great channel...god bless top gear...though I wish they had more shows.

Frontline is the only other one I watch....but then again I don't watch a lot of TV.

[cutthemdown]

You are one uninformed individual. :spit:

BTW, how much money did you save this year in taxes on Bush's estate tax reel back?

like its any of your business. In 2001 the exclusion amount was 675 thousand, the max tax was 55% on anything over that amount. By 2005 when it mattered to my family is was 1.5 million and the tax amount was 47% past that amount. There are other deductions but I can't remember and don't know them all. I don't really understand it all that well when it's being explained to me. I never claimed to be a tax expert. I just trust my tax guy. Whatever though I don't really care what type of fishing expedition you are on but you can kiss my ass you little waste of an egg.

In 2009 no tax on estate but then after that the dems are planning on taking most of that money again. Forget about passing wealth on.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

You are one uninformed individual. :spit:


:yep:

Scary, isn't it?

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8152/twilightzonemonkeyby2.jpg

[gunns]

Now Bush's 8 yrs are almost over and he really never got to have any good times. It was soon after he took office 9-11 hit. His honeymoon wasn't even over and he got dealt tough situation. The country loved his heavy hand at first but in the end grew weary

Any good times? That's his fault. He created the bad times. 9-11 did nothing but help his falling popularity. But he screwed that up too.

Hopefully it won't take another big attack to make people realize radical islam wants to hurt us. We have to keep fighting, just because PBS has made a movie about the war to this point does not mean the ending is final.

And Bush could have been one of the best Presidents ever if he had gone after the radical islams that tried to hurt us with the attack on 9-11. Instead he chose his own agenda, not the country's, nothing that defended this country against such people. No it's not final, it never should have started.

The way to make this a victory is by showing the world America will stay and finish the tough jobs. Don't think you can attack us, shoot at our planes, finance terror, invade other countries, develop nuclear weapons because it aint like vietnam anymore, we finish what we start. You won't outlast us to win and you certainly won't outfight us. To give up, leave, let Iraq tumble to the radicals and Iran says, we are easy to beat, kill 4000 of us and we quit.

So we should stay and continue a mistake? 4000 people and countless others have paid for this mistake. How cavalier of you to offer up more. At least with Vietnam we admitted our mistake and cut our losses, huge as they already were. People in Iraq did not attack us, crash our planes, develop nuclear weapons. Yes the despot invaded another country but we had already taken care of that. You just seem extremely clueless about this whole thing. Where have you been for the past 5 years?

[baja]

<b>like its any of your business.</b> In 2001 the exclusion amount was 675 thousand, the max tax was 55% on anything over that amount. By 2005 when it mattered to my family is was 1.5 million and the tax amount was 47% past that amount. There are other deductions but I can't remember and don't know them all. I don't really understand it all that well when it's being explained to me. I never claimed to be a tax expert. I just trust my tax guy. Whatever though I don't really care what type of fishing expedition you are on but you can kiss my ass you little waste of an egg.

In 2009 no tax on estate but then after that the dems are planning on taking most of that money again. Forget about passing wealth on.

Ya Slug it's non of your business but without even a paragraph break he lays it out for you. LOL