Along River Jordan

Syriana (2005), directed by Steven Gaghan, was probably best known for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that the film fetched for its leading man—George Clooney. What many of us missed (no numbers on this though) was the pivotal parts played by the rather impressive cast, which included Matt Damon and Jeffrey Wright, in this well-rounded and well-told political drama that relies on facts from old CIA espionage files to construct a timely tale of intrigue and deceit at the highest levels.
The petroleum politics that lies at the heart of the ‘clash of civilization’ between the United States and the oil-rich Arab world forms the captivating background to the thriller, so does the fundamental argument that pervades the construction of the ‘Bad Muslim’—the English-speaking, educated, politically ambitious, reformist Prince of an Emirate who repels American propaganda to hand out an oil deal to the Chinese—and the ‘Good Muslim—the wine-swilling American stooge, the younger Prince of the same Emirate, in mainstream American cinema. The demarcation is stark and compartmentalized. The characters are etched out correctly, to convey the gist of the matter to the viewer—American double game in the Middle East.
The creation of a terrorist is also documented well enough, in the form of the young Pakistani boy who is sacked from his lowly job as a migrant worker in an oil rig. Not only does he end up in the local madrasa, watching tapes featuring Osama bin Laden, he is the protagonist of the suicide attack on an American ship (ostensibly taking off from the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in 2000). Thus, is all boils down to the emergence of the United States as the key driver of Islamic fundamentalism, owing to its incendiary and one-sided Middle East policy—the propping up of puppet regimes in the Arab world in order to control the global demand and supply of oil. Using multiple, parallel storylines, Syriana manages to convey the moot point pretty well.
The American energy analyst (Matt Damon) comes to appreciate his employer’s—the ‘Bad Muslim’ Prince—point of view as he outlines plans to usher some semblance of democracy in the Emirate. The ‘Good Muslim’ Prince, meanwhile is working against his brother to gain control of the throne, as well as his ailing father—the reigning Emir—with the help of the Americans. But he is ‘good’ because he is with the Americans. The embittered, double-crossed CIA agent (George Clooney) lurks in the background for most of the film, and makes time towards the end to warn the ‘Bad Muslim’ of the impending rocket attack on him and his family as they travel across the desert. Turned away by the Agency once his utility as a Middle East expert is over, Clooney realizes his folly (involvement in an assassination attempt on the ‘Bad Muslim’). Also taking up considerable reel space in the film is the story of the merger of two American petroleum giants and the discovery, by a young attorney, of the nefarious ways in which the deal was brokered and the blood that was spilt. Perhaps a tad slow in parts, Syriana is a powerful indictment of American foreign policy.