What part of ‘Syriana’ don’t you understand?

February 4, 2006

[Editor’s Note: Yes, Morbo sort of retired a few weeks ago, but he suggested he might come back on occasion, when he has something to contribute. Thankfully, today is one of those days. Enjoy. -CB]

Guest Post by Morbo

The Academy Award nominations were announced just before the State of the Union, and believe it or not, I’ve managed to find a nexus between the two.

George Clooney was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in “Syriana.” Meanwhile, the other George told the nation, “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.”

Well, duh. Interestingly, that’s just what “Syriana” is about. The film is confusing at first because it consists of a series of short vignettes that seem unconnected. As they gradually dovetail, the film’s core message becomes clear: Our nation is indeed addicted to oil, and we’ll do bad things to keep the pipeline open.

I don’t see many films on the big screen. I made time for this one. It’s a complex, talky geo-political thriller that I was still thinking about days later. I recommend it.

Ironically, some liberals attacked the film as an example of liberal paranoia. Columnist Richard Cohen called the movie “simplistic” and blasted its “cynicism.” Wrote Cohen:

You will not be surprised to learn that the locus for all this ‘oil, terrorism, money and power’ is the United States, which is up to no good. With the exception of the Clooney character, everyone is corrupt, including, of course, the CIA.

I’m normally a fan of Cohen, but I found this statement incredibly naïve on his part. I don’t want to give away too much about the movie for those who have not seen it, but I found the plot — especially the disturbing climax — to be perfectly plausible.

The movie’s central messages include:

1. Petroleum companies have undue influence over U.S. foreign policy.

2. The CIA meddles in the internal affairs of foreign nations to protect perceived American business interest and access to cheap oil.

3. Lobbyists create phony front groups and manipulate people to get their well heeled clients what they want.

4. Poverty and limited opportunities can lure some young men in the Middle East into extremist movements.

5. Our government sometimes makes morally wrong choices purely for economic reasons.

Which of these statements is controversial? Cohen can call me a cynic or say I’m paranoid for believing them. I prefer to think of myself as a realist. After all we’ve witnessed in Iraq, after the constant steam of lies from this administration, how could one come to any other conclusion?

Morbo Rocks. I rarely go and see movies myself. Will see this one today for sure.

  • The word “liberal” in the first sentence and Richard Cohen in the next sentence. Is Richard Cohen a liberal columnist? That would be an oxy[-]moron. Liberal columnist is the “oxy” part, and Richard Cohen is the …

  • I rarely go to theaters anymore. Can’t stand the audience talking, the cell phones ringing, or the cost of tickets these days. I’d much rather wait until it comes out on DVD and watch it in the privacy of my home, where there are no distractions, and I can pause it to take a pee or smoke break, or rewind a scene if I missed something.

    This movie is definitely on my list of movies to get when they come out, as is “Good Night and Good Luck”. My admiration and respect for Clooney just keeps increasing with each movie he does.

  • Last week, I read an article about the CIA and ethics in either the NYT or Newsday (I read it in the real paper and can’t find it on the web today). The gist of it was that the CIA is going soft and teaching courses on ethics to recruits. A retiring manager was interviewed and he more or less said “Bullshit, the CIA is about lying and deception.”

    I don’t know what kind of internal controls exist at the CIA but the potential for corruption is unlimited. Drugs, insider trading, you name it. I had to laugh when I read that the CIA set up a new unit in the late ’80s to deal with drug trafficking. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the CIA needed an excuse to stay in Afghanistan and “monitor” heroin traffic after the Afghan-Russian war ended.

    The CIA plays rough. I don’t think there are any rules in the Geneva Cnvention about getting your opponent hooked on smack nor is the CIA particularly interested in civilian casualties. In the ’60s, there was an influx of heroin into NYC which destroyed poor black neighborhoods wholesale. The mafia played the middleman but it was the CIA bringing the stuff in from southeast Asia.

    I read that the DEA is now investigating the heroin market in Afghanistan. LOL- what the hell is there to investigate? Knock on the farmer’s door and ask him who buys his opium. Who’s kidding who? The DEA is looking for a cut of the CIA’s business.It’s fairly obvious that the DEA exists solely to control the drug traffic, not stop it. Hear of any big drug busts lately? My guess is that after Pablo Escobar’s death in 1993, the coke dealers smartened up. They figured out who to pay off at the top in the US and now the coke business runs more along corporate lines.

    I’ve thought about how to verify my suspicions about the CIA and the DEA. I am also curious as to the average pension of a retired CIA employee because I bet the pension plan is very generous. I’ve always meant to look at how Porter Goss made his $16 million. Goss is from the west coast of Florida and there’s a good chance that other CIA employees live in the same area. Look at the names of people who contributed to Goss’s campaigns for starters.

    I suspect that retired CIA employees tend to be more relaxed as years go by and some information might be fairly easy to come by. Do they bank locally? Do they pay their restaurant bills with credit cards? Do they still use the CIA’s overnight mail account to send their own correspondence? If anyone in the CIA died, is the will available?

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for a big expose – I’d just like to know for myself if these guys are crooks and yes, I read too many detective novels.

    I’m going to try and see “Good Night and Good Luck” tonight.

  • Long ago and far away (before I had read him consistently for a long time) I, too, was a semi-fan of Cohen’s. No more. Too often I find his writing naive and cynical, and more importantly, his reasoning is either totally lacking or incredibly self-serving. A column in which he blamed his lack of skepticism about the rationale for invading Iraq on the the “fact” that he had had to spend so much of his time debunking the arguments of those who were opposed to it pretty much sent me away for good. The guy is lazy and his criticism of Syriana pretty much recommends it to me.

  • Paranoid?! It’s loosely based on the book by Robert Baer, former employee of the CIA. He got into some trouble with his former employers…

  • “With the exception of the Clooney character, everyone is corrupt, including, of course, the CIA.”

    Actually, no. There are two other “uncorrupt characters”, the two young Arabs who commit suicide at the end.

    The parallel between them and Clooney’s character, Bob is explicitly drawn by using the voice over of one of the boys’ funeral message as the audio as Bob’s effects are being boxed up as his CIA office is cleaned out. Note the phrase “pure of heart”.

  • I am not a fan of George Clooney and I have persian origins, i was not expecting anything from this movie, but I must admit they did a great job. The ambition of this movie is as big as the hope of people lost in between the big power boys playing with them on each side (religion or politicians, better clarify). It’s impossible to make a movie on a complex subject like this but I think they did an amazing job in 2 hours. It’s indeed simplified but you can’t hold an argument like that against a movie! I liked the way they described the religious responsibility and the business games to fool everyone. We are fooled everyday but we still drive our cars and want the oil to be cheap…I enjoyed the girlfriend not interested in geopolitics or utopia and the safe life of everyone involved…It’s so true to our own lives…

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