Why We Fight (2006)

Synopsis:A look at the historical beginnings of what President Eisehower called "the military industrial complex", it's deveopments over the last forty years, and its current effect and influence on U.S. foreign policy and current engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Directed by Eugene Jarecki. Documentary/history/commentary.

Many students of history will know or remember that President Dwight Eisenhower, who had been Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII, spoke in his farewell address to the nation in 1961 of the influence of what he called the military industrial complex. Well, what is this complex, what does it do, and how does it effect U.S. foreign policy, and citizens?

Eugene Jarecki tackles these questions in an extremely thorough and analytical way by the use of old footage and interviews with a wide range of people, including Retired General John Esienhower (son of the former President), Susan Esienhower, Richard Perle, William Kristol, Dan Rather, Senator John McCain and many others such as a retired NYC detective who lost his son on 9/11 and several active and retired military personnel who were in the fields of air assault, bombing, and intelligence.

On the face of it, one might think this is a blatantly political (meaning partisan) piece, but I don't think it is, or can be construed that way by anyone looking at the piece objectively. To be sure, there are politics here, but trying to take politics out of foreign affairs, to me, is like trying to take water out of the ocean. This is completely different from, say, a Michael Moore type piece where interviews and footage, sometimes taken out of context, are used along with the director's narrative to show a personal point of view. There is no attempt at humor here.

In fact, there is no narrative telling us what we are supposed to think, or what others think. There is no direct slam on any U.S. administration in particular, though references to the 1960 election and the Democrats use of a incorrect (or phony, depending on your point of view) allegation that a "missile gap" existed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

The interviews are intertwined with each other, and portions are shown throughout the film, with historical footage and facts being used to make the narrative. The interviews are in depth, not sound bites where you might get the feeling that things are being taken out of context or that the person speaking might not be saying what it is being made to look like he/she is saying.

As an amateur historian, the film was good in that it went into some things that are not widely known, but do effect our policy to this day. Those of us who remember the Iranian seige of the U.S. embassy in the '70's might be suprised to know-again in theory-that U.S. policy put that in motion in the '50's with the U.S. supported ouster of Mossadegh and subsequent support of the oppressive regime of the Shah or might be shocked to see footage of Donald Rumsfeld-then in the first Bush administration-enthusiastically pumping the hand of Saddam Hussein at a time when the regime in Iraq was receiving support in weapons and money for their fight against Iran.

The effect of the war on the people who have, and are, fighting it is dealt with, as is the reality of those, young recruits, who will be fighting it. No layer of what goes into taking this country to war is left untouched, as the U.S. congress and large corporations as well as foreign policy "think tanks" are dealt with as well.

Again, there is no blame or glory assigned to one school or thought or another, the point of the film, I think, is to get the viewer to think about the many aspects of our culture, including the people who lead us, that go into the military industrial complex and can result in wars that may, or may not, be about what we are being told that they are really about. There are issues of culture, history, economics, politics, and social class to considered, both ours and other nations. The result is that it is a very complex question of why we fight wars, and the answers are not easy or even readilhy apparent. This Why We Fight  documentary, in the spirit of the WWII films of the same name, does an excellent job of giving us some facts to answer that question for ourselves.

To me, know matter what your feelings about these topics, this is an excellent film to watch and then talk about.