Product Description

9/11 and Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and Iraq, WMD and the Insurgency, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Fallujah and the Surge. For six years, FRONTLINE has been revealing those stories in meticulous detail, and the political dramas played out at the highest levels. Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga will unfold in this special definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13901 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 270 minutes

Customer Reviews

How Decisions Are Made
Without regard to your view of the Iraq War in particular and the War on Terror in general, this documentary will provide a fascinating look at the inner workings of President Bush's White House and its relationships with the Pentagon, Justice Department and CIA. More than half of the interviews and recorded speeches/meetings involve the subjects themselves. This is not your typical documentary full of opinions by third parties juxtaposed with quick soundbytes, but rather an explanation, in their own words, of how the principals of our government moved from 9/11 to the War in Iraq. My only regret is that PBS did or could not get interviews with George Tenet and Donald Rumsfeld, as most of their actions are told through others. Adding their perspective would have been interesting. This DVD represents excellent reporting which, although a criticism of the Bush Administration, sticks to the facts and provides the viewer with a valuable insight into the give-and-take of Washington.

Historically Significant Documentary
Bush's War, parts 1 and 2 deal with the Bush Administration's reaction to the events of 9/11/2001. The documentary interviews so many of the important principles, it provides very valuable insights into what our nation did, what miscues we made and who the were likely the responsible parties. I highly recommend this documentary, but I also recommend reading the extended interviews which you can do at PBS.org.

Admittedly, there were some principles who weren't interviewed, namely Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Douglas Feith, and of course, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby. However the list of people who did give interviews is impressive, with much cross-collaboration on important details regarding the Bush Administration's war on terror.

Certainly, coming out of this documentary, some individuals looked much better than others. Those who come accross as protagonists include guys like Rich Armitage, Gen. Jack Keane, Col. H.R. McMaster, Fiasco author Thomas Ricks, and David Kay. Frontline often contributes to the demonization of the antagonists in this drama by playing evil or disturbing background music when individuals such as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, or others are discussed. But individuals such as J.Paul Bremer, Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Scooter Libby, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Gen. Casey, and many others are portrayed as individuals who were key players who made serious mistakes.

The first part of the documentary deals with the government's response from the perspective of going after Al Qaeda, Afganistan, and the rule of law as the administration "took the gloves off" and used the "war on terror" as a justification for human rights violations. It also deals with the leadup to the Iraq war and the "fixing of the evidence around the policy" and the CIA's caving into the Cheney/Wolfowitz goal of invading Iraq.

The second part deals with the execution of the Iraq War from a military perspective and from the later attempts to justify the war given the lack of "weapons of mass destruction." Military strategy is discussed relative to the growing insurgency. Gen. Jack Keane's interview was perhaps the most insightful as he indicates that they never anticipated an insurgency and never had a strategy to deal with it. Even after it was evident that the insurgency was going on, the state of denial in the Bush administration was stunning to say the least.

The "light footprint" strategy of Don Rumsfeld is discussed at length, as is the efforts of some in the Bush administration such as Condi Rice to rethink the strategy for Iraq and try to deal with the insurgency.

One aspect of the documentary that is stunning is the degree to which the Bush administration was so deeply divided and ineffective in employing consistent and thoughtful strategies to deal with the crisis our nation faced. What the documentary says in so many words, but never ties together, is that it is the failure of leadership by George W. Bush that led to the fiasco. Bush brought together alot of strong individuals into his administrion. But by doing so, it meant that if he didn't provide strong leadership himself, internal dissension was inevitable. By not insisting that his team work together effectively, by not asking the hard but important questions that an effective chief executive officer must ask, Bush failed as a leader. And though Bush will hand off this war to some other President, the documentary makes it clear, that this fiasco, was "Bush's War."

Compelling viewing, wholly informative and greatly enlightening
I am Australian and have a keen interest in America so this was bought for me as a Christmas present. My interests however are more about US history and politics, not war, but it made for compelling viewing. My interest in the US intensified after 9/11 (I was 22 at the time) and I must admit to largely training my attention on all things other than the Iraq war beyond the political context even though I knew I was ignoring one of the most important events in the history of the US. This documentary was a real eye opener. I would say I am like most observers of the conflict (who have no direct connection to it) and see it for its difficulty and sheer horror and have been overwelmed by its complexity and frankly sheer length. Keeping a mental hold on the conflict is not easy without real absorption. This documentary puts everything in such chronological order and necessary context that one comes out of it with an infinitely more informed viewpoint and one I hope to be a starting point for further study on my part.

Viewing it was especially timely for me given the recent election and imminent inauguration of Barack Obama and I imagine was much more timely for US audiences pre-election. I started out with a negative pre-9/11 opinion of the Bush administration, which became supportive immediately post 9/11, and has solidified into a poor opinion, specifically in connection to the response of 9/11 post Afghanistan and the handling of the 9/11 Commission.

This documentary for me expanded upon my initial distrust of the administration as it opens an endless parade of further avenues for questioning and slams home my initial opinion even further. Don't get me wrong I still find America and its society fascinating and the people mainly fantastic, I just dont like the Bush administration. Economics aside, the next 2 years will be VERY interesting for America. Good luck Mr Obama.