On the heels of the long awaited progress report on the troop surge in Iraq comes a potential cure for the collective amnesia that allows politicians and their appointees to revise history as it suits them. In a reply to L. Paul Bremer III’s simultaneous denial and defense (what an odd combination) of his dismantling the Iraqi army, director Charles Ferguson deftly takes the op-ed page into the 21st century in a 10 minute video posted on the New York Times web site.

Using footage from his “No End in Sight”, a scathing documentary film on the mismanagement of the war’s aftermath, and audio updates of telephone conversations with sources sited in Bremer’s own (text-only mind you) op-ed piece, Ferguson directly refutes several of his arguments and alibis and makes the case that this singular decision led to the disastrous consequences we face today in Iraq.

Bremer features prominently in “No End in Sight” as the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, the man in charge of governing Iraq after the fall of Sadaam Hussein. His op-ed piece titled “How I Didn’t Dismantle Iraq’s Army” attempts to paint a picture of broad consensus and common sense around the ill-fated move and tries to conclude that even in hindsight it was the best of all possible decisions.

Ferguson, a former Brookings Institution scholar with a doctorate in political science from MIT is no stranger to speaking truth to power. After spending years as a consultant to government and industry alike including IBM and Apple, he founded Vermeer Technologies, maker of FrontPage web publishing software, which he sold to Microsoft for $133 million
(the fortune that allowed him to put up $2 million of his own money for the movie). His book, High Stakes, No Prisoners: A Winner’s Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars was wryly critical and mentioned by name more than a few former Silicon Valley big wigs.

What most interests us about Mr. Ferguson is that he seems to understand the convergence of political, economic, and technological power and is using it unflinchingly to get at and expose the truth whatever that may be. Politicians who have long relied on the fog of media an disinformation would do well to take note.

Share This