Thus concluded Charles Ferguson, film director and producer of No End In Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq at the end of an evening of debate, following a screening of the film. Not just any old screening, either; this was only the second ever screening, in front of an audience of academics, students and lay people - learned others - at the heart of the well known Californian political community, Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

The film, which won the 2007 Sundandce Film Festival Special Jury Prize in the Documentary category, is Ferguson's first film; I'm not sure how he came to make it, as his bio listed a degree in mathematics, followed by a doctorate in Political Science, which was in turn followed by a a number of years as an independent consultant providing "strategic consulting" in the early nineties. Perhaps he has now found his vocation - for this film truly is magnificent, acting as a quality piece of writing against the dross that an every day reader recieves. It is to Michael Moore's movies (Fahrenheit 911 being the most similar in topic) as the Times or Guardian are to the Mirror or the Sun, the New York Times or the Herald Tribune to the Daily Post: this is a purely class documentary, allowing the subjects to do the speaking, whilst Ferguson narrates only the most fragile of architectures. And it is clear who's mess is Iraq - and who's legacy.

Presented a talk on "Issues of consent" referencing a number of cases I was involved in, along with a couple that I wasn't. Have put it up here in openoffice format as that's my preference and what I used; there's a brief video that goes along with it (look for the black slide - and imagine that there's only one word to describe the situation). All components are linked in due to failures to attach them properly....

Enjoy!