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Undermining the Essence of the Rule of Law
In all the situations people tend to rely on the rule of law which they trust and respect above all. It is a common belief that the law is fair to those people it is applied to and every citizen of the country, especially such a mighty one as the United States of America, feels safe under the protection of the law. However, the cases when the powers which the law grants are abused are quite widespread these days. The movie Taxi to the Darkside directed by Alex Gibney and released in 2008 depicts the events which undermine the essence of the rule of law and show how the U.S. government abuses its powers in the war on terror .
At large, the movie traces the story of Dilawar, a taxi driver from Afghanistan, who died in jail at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. Dilawar was wrongfully accused of terrorism and beaten to death by American soldiers who the United States of America is proud of so much. The movie depicts illegal interrogation and detention policies that are practiced by the U.S. government ready to take any measures to end the war on terror . Dilawars story is not the only one presented in the film; many other people are tortured by American soldiers in the Taxi to the Darkside .
The movie under consideration shows that the government opts to ignore its laws and to abuse its powers when it comes to national security. The fact that terrible tortures take place to protect the citizens of the United States makes it hard to condemn the U.S. governments actions. After the events of September 11, 2001, when thousands of American citizens lost their lives during Al Qaidas attack on the New York twin towers, such a behavior of the government seems to be justified. The main purpose of any government is to guarantee the citizens of the country safety and welfare. It risks being overthrown if it fails this mission.
On the other hand, American rule of law is unfair to the innocent people who are tortured for the welfare of the United States. If American citizens knew how many innocent lives their safety takes, they would have thought of other means to protect themselves. Taxi to the Darkside features how the American soldiers at military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan abuse the rule of law when interrogating the detainees; the abusive techniques they use include sleep deprivation, ceiling handcuffing, isolation, and even waterboarding, a form of torture which is considered to be illegal under the international law and the U.S. law correspondingly.
The movie Taxi to the Darkside is the winner of the 2008 Academy Award in the nomination for the Best Documentary Feature, as well as of the 2008 Peabody Award. It features illegal practices used by American soldiers at detention facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Most of the scenes in the movie are appalling; they strike with sadism and evoke resentment in viewers. This movie undermines the essence of the rule of law because it shows that the law is applied only when it is beneficial for the government and is often abused in the pursuit of governmental purposes. Though this is done for national security, it is hardly worse the lives of innocent people who suffer only because of their ethnic origin.
No End in Sight and the Mistakes of the U.S. Government
No End in Sight directed by Charles Ferguson features events different from those which are presented in the Taxi to the Darkside, though the movies share the same military subject. They both depict strivings of the U.S. government to ensure the country with proper security, though No End in Sight depicts the events which take place directly during the war which America tried to avoid so diligently. This movie is a collection of interviews given by people who were involved in the ORHA (the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) and the Iraqi occupation authority, as well as by soldiers who were stationed in Iraq, Iraqi civilians, and several journalists. The movie addresses the mistakes made by the U.S. government during the Iraq occupation and reveals the real cause of the insurgency which engulfs Iraq today.
The first issue the movie addresses is the set of mistakes made by the U.S. government in face of George W. Bush. To be more exact, these mistakes were made by Paul Bremer, the head of Coalition Provisional Authority. According to the movie, three mistakes were especially grave. Firstly, not enough troops (police force or national army) were provided to maintain the order. This led to the insufficiency of martial law after conquering the country. Numerous buildings and cultural sites in Bagdad remained unprotected, which, as No End in Sight states, convinced Iraqis that no order and law was maintained by American forces. This all destroyed Baghdad and made the ORHA staff rebuild the infrastructure of the Iraqi government.
Two other mistakes were Bremers orders, the first one implementing De-Baathification and the second one disbanding Iraqi military entities. Bremers order of De-Baathification banned apolitical Iraqi individuals to hold any positions in the new government. This was a grave mistake because Saddam Husseins Baath Party consisted of a number of teachers and educational employees who did not have a chance of holding these positions unless they were members of the party. Bremers another mistake only aggravated the situation by adding another 500,000 unemployed people. Joining the militia force was the only way out for the unemployed who, at this, got access to weapons that were later used against the new government and Americans.
These mistakes led to chaos in the country. De-Baathification and disbanding of the Iraqi army resulted in the insurgency in Iraq because people who lost their jobs needed means for living. This led to much more serious problems, namely penetration of Iraqi citizens into the military; at this, most of them did not have much military experience, as well as knowledge of the Arab world. The decisions taken by them were debilitating, which ended up in what the American forces have today.
Thus, No End in Site shows how arrogance on the part of the Bush Administration turned an ordinary military victory into an endless war. The main themes of the movie No End in Site are the mistakes made by the U.S. government and the causes of the insurgency in Iraq after its occupation by American forces.
Conclusion
These two themes are interrelated; they are greatly connected with such issues as arrogance and ignorance of the Bush Administration which resulted in a nightmare of war that seems to have no end.
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