If you were generally concerned about the war on Iraq but a little put off by Michael Moore's polemical posturings then this documentary could be for you.

There's none of the emotional manipulation employed by the tubby firebrand in Fahrenheit 9/11 - just cold, hard facts presented by a succession of talking heads.

If that all sounds a little bit dull - no ironic soundtrack or emotive footage a la Moore - then you only have to listen to what they say to be seriously disturbed.

Away from the bellicose Republican rump of Bush, Rumsfeld, Chaney and Powell, there do exist moderate, decent and uncowed American critics of the war.

These range from weapons expert and Bush appointee Dr David Kay to former CIA high-flier Milt Bearden to, over here, Clare Short, who quit the Blair cabinet over Iraq.

Director Robert Greenwald painstakingly constructs an argument that proves pretty unequivocally the reason America went to war was September 11. No more, no less.

In support of the war, Bush stated categorically that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction - an assertion here shown to be based on mass distortion of military intelligence.

Bush also alleged that Saddam had links to Al-Qaeda - a fatuous claim since Osama Bin Laden had branded the Iraqi tyrant a "socialist infidel" at the head of a secular state.

It all becomes alarmingly clear that Bush would resort to any representation of the facts - as he interpreted them - to send his army to war.

Moore's unashamedly populist infotainment approach certainly got his message across to plenty of Americans who would rather watch the Dodgers than a documentary.

However, the tricksy devices employed to maintain the interest often distracted from the enormity of the dodgy dealings they were lifting the lid on.

The same certainly cannot be said for this gimmick-free, clinical destruction of Bush's global deceipt and is all the more powerful for it.

Tim Evans