Review: Stuff Happens
How The US Went To War
Stuff Happens is the latest offering from David Hare, whose last play,
The Permanent Way, successfully exposed the privatisation of the railways.
"Stuff happens" was the famous comment by Donald Rumsfeld
following the looting of Baghdad.
Mark Baker, Bristol
The play is largely a historical narrative of the events leading up to
the invasion of Iraq, interspersed with commentary and observation from
various viewpoints.
It starts by taking us right back to the Vietnam war and, introducing
each of the senior figures in the US Republican administration, exposes
the various ways in which many of them avoided participation in the
conflict.
Quickly moving forward to modern day events set in the Oval Room of the
White House we hear how the intelligence following 9/11 suggested that al-Qa’ida
were only one of fifty terror organisations in the world and that there
was between a 10% and 50% chance of Iraq being linked to the attack. Yet,
only three months later, Bush named them in his "axis of evil"
speech to the nation. Wolfowitz’s dossier to discredit Hans Blix had
already been conceived some nine months earlier.
All the main players are here. George Bush, given the familiar languid
pondering style of speech; Blair played as a weak, increasingly desperate
politician trapped by the moral crusade of the US neo-conservatives. This
is demonstrated at one point in the play when they agree to spend the
evening praying and Condaleezza Rice leads the singing of Amazing Grace.
In many ways the central character in the unfolding drama is Colin
Powell, carefully played by Joe Morton. Initially he sits cautiously on
the outside of a group of US senators as they study an aerial photograph
which is supposed proof of Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass
destruction, perhaps knowing the answer to the question of its
authenticity. He shifts from dove to hawk in increasing exasperation at
the failure of his diplomatic excursions, cut from under him by Cheney and
Rumsfeld who are played almost as a comic duo, full of bluster and
prejudice.
There are brief and amusing cameos from Jack Straw, Ricardo Lagos, the
President of Chile, and even Saddam Hussein himself. Events covered
include the moment where British troops cornered Osama bin Laden but
withdrew only to let their US counterparts allow him to slip into
Pakistan. Nicholas Farrell’s Blair is exposed as a pathetic passenger in
Bush’s game.
The relationship between Bush and his security adviser is a curious
one. Condaleezza Rice, a woman who "had two mirrors in her office so
she could watch her back as well as her front", seeming to hold more
personal influence over the President than his own wife.
There are many humorous moments in the production: Blair castigating
Hans Blix for "running around Mesopotamia like Hercule Poirot";
Alistair Campbell’s outburst at the French; a US spokesperson suggesting
Bush’s reference to UN "resolutions" rather than
"resolution" was down to his cue card breaking down – "we
were lucky he said anything at all!"
The play is well worth seeing. It exposes the hypocrisy of the US
attitude to international law and the breakdown in the international
coalition following 9/11, condemned by Robin Cook in his resignation
speech. David Hare shows the religious zeal of the hard-line neo-cons –
"we are the Jews of the Jews"- and Bush offering Blair an exit
strategy following the massive anti-war demonstrations of 15 February 2003
and the subsequent Parliamentary revolt.
In closing the play, two viewpoints explain that, eighteen months after
the invasion of Iraq, 70% of the American population still believe that
Saddam Hussein was in some way responsible for the attack on the twin
towers. An Iraqi citizen closes the show, saying: "Until this nation
is allowed to take charge of itself, it will continue to suffer".
Stuff can happen in a socialist world free of war and terror where
national conflicts can be resolved in a peaceful, democratic way.
