Why We Fight
starring: Gore Vidal, John McCain, Ken Adelman, John Ashcroft, Osama Bin Laden
directed by: Eugene Jarecki
directed by: Eugene Jarecki
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Product Description:
Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival WHY WE FIGHT offers a revealing look at how America has readied itself for battle and what compels us to so frequently wage war around the world. Produced in the midst of the second Iraq War documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's WHY WE FIGHT is an unflinching examination of the forces fueling the American military machine for over half a century and their global consequences. The film opens with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell speech in which he warned Americans of the growing power of the "military industrial complex." Expanding upon Eisenhower's warning Jarecki relies on interviews with American soldiers government officials military insiders defense industry personnel congressman scholars ordinary Iraqis and many others to provide personal political and economic analysis of the last 50 years of U.S. military expansion wars and interventions. What emerges is an eye-opening and often chilling portrait of how political corporate and military interests have become progressively entangled through the business of war.System Requirements:Running Time 99 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: TBD UPC: 043396138940 Manufacturer No: 13894
Amazon.com:
Fans of Oliver Stone's J.F.K. will recognize the opening moments of writer-director Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight, in which outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warns of the pernicious and growing influence of what he called the "military-industrial complex." But Stone's movie, which uses the same footage, was a work of fiction. While those who disagree with the decidedly leftist point of view in this documentary will probably consider it the product of paranoid liberal fantasy as well, there's enough credible material, much of it supplied by the targets of Jarecki's criticisms, to make Eisenhower look like a prophet and everyone else uneasy about the dark confluence of politics, money, and war that controls the country's fortunes. The message here is that while there may be some who sincerely believe that America's various military engagements (in Iraq, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and elsewhere) since World War II are the product of our God-given duty to spread freedom and halt the influence of evil ideologies around the world, the real reason we fight is that war is good business. This is hardly a bulletin; anyone who is surprised by allegations that politicians pander to defense contractors, or that Vice President Dick Cheney helped secure huge deals for Halliburton, the company he formerly headed, simply hasn't been paying attention (Politicians lie? How shocking!). In fact, the principal drawback to Jarecki's film is simply that there's nothing particularly revelatory or compelling about it. Only when he takes a personal approach does he go beyond the obvious; the story of a retired New York policeman and former Vietnam veteran whose son died in the World Trade Center, who wanted revenge, but who became seriously disillusioned when Bush admitted that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, adds some much needed human interest. Still, Why We Fight, which includes a director's audio commentary track and a few other bonus features, serves as a grim reminder that the world's most powerful nation has strayed far from the principles of our founding fathers, a development that does not bode well for America's future. --Sam Graham
Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival WHY WE FIGHT offers a revealing look at how America has readied itself for battle and what compels us to so frequently wage war around the world. Produced in the midst of the second Iraq War documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's WHY WE FIGHT is an unflinching examination of the forces fueling the American military machine for over half a century and their global consequences. The film opens with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell speech in which he warned Americans of the growing power of the "military industrial complex." Expanding upon Eisenhower's warning Jarecki relies on interviews with American soldiers government officials military insiders defense industry personnel congressman scholars ordinary Iraqis and many others to provide personal political and economic analysis of the last 50 years of U.S. military expansion wars and interventions. What emerges is an eye-opening and often chilling portrait of how political corporate and military interests have become progressively entangled through the business of war.System Requirements:Running Time 99 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: TBD UPC: 043396138940 Manufacturer No: 13894
Amazon.com:
Fans of Oliver Stone's J.F.K. will recognize the opening moments of writer-director Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight, in which outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warns of the pernicious and growing influence of what he called the "military-industrial complex." But Stone's movie, which uses the same footage, was a work of fiction. While those who disagree with the decidedly leftist point of view in this documentary will probably consider it the product of paranoid liberal fantasy as well, there's enough credible material, much of it supplied by the targets of Jarecki's criticisms, to make Eisenhower look like a prophet and everyone else uneasy about the dark confluence of politics, money, and war that controls the country's fortunes. The message here is that while there may be some who sincerely believe that America's various military engagements (in Iraq, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and elsewhere) since World War II are the product of our God-given duty to spread freedom and halt the influence of evil ideologies around the world, the real reason we fight is that war is good business. This is hardly a bulletin; anyone who is surprised by allegations that politicians pander to defense contractors, or that Vice President Dick Cheney helped secure huge deals for Halliburton, the company he formerly headed, simply hasn't been paying attention (Politicians lie? How shocking!). In fact, the principal drawback to Jarecki's film is simply that there's nothing particularly revelatory or compelling about it. Only when he takes a personal approach does he go beyond the obvious; the story of a retired New York policeman and former Vietnam veteran whose son died in the World Trade Center, who wanted revenge, but who became seriously disillusioned when Bush admitted that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, adds some much needed human interest. Still, Why We Fight, which includes a director's audio commentary track and a few other bonus features, serves as a grim reminder that the world's most powerful nation has strayed far from the principles of our founding fathers, a development that does not bode well for America's future. --Sam Graham
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Failure to Heed Eisenhower's Warning
Eugene Jereki's Why We Fight starts with Eisenhower's farewell speech to the nation in 1961 in which he warned Americans to be vigilent concerning the rapid growth of the military-industrial complex. Today he posits that failure to heed the warning has led to the war in Iraq and a return of American imperialism.
While Jereki makes his argument in a cogent manner, my problem with the film is that it does not really say anything new. We have heard these arguments before. Most natably from ... Read More
Rating: 
- Excellent documentary
Great movie. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who has any interest in the who's and why's of what has been driving U.S. foreign policy since the beginning of WWII and the direction it's heading.
Rating: - Please tell me if you know the song!
There is a jazz song at minute 8 that I really want the name of.Please someone know!
Rating: - My thoughts
Truly a "MUST SEE" video!I am shareing this with all of my family and many friends.We had better wake up to what is happening while we let "them" run the country and pay little attention to what is happening to our industrial complex.It may already be too late!
Rating: - The military industrial complex has three legs, the third one is Congress
What I most like in this documentary is that it gives an inside look into the military industrial complex.You see how weapon systems are first being proposed, and also how Lockheed celebrates the winning of a bid.But you also see how Congress supports the military industrial complex.The arms manufacturers act very intelligently, by distributing the production facilities over all the states of America, so each and every congressman applauds when defense budget is going up.You also will see some ... Read More
- Failure to Heed Eisenhower's WarningEugene Jereki's Why We Fight starts with Eisenhower's farewell speech to the nation in 1961 in which he warned Americans to be vigilent concerning the rapid growth of the military-industrial complex. Today he posits that failure to heed the warning has led to the war in Iraq and a return of American imperialism.
While Jereki makes his argument in a cogent manner, my problem with the film is that it does not really say anything new. We have heard these arguments before. Most natably from ... Read More
- Excellent documentaryGreat movie. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who has any interest in the who's and why's of what has been driving U.S. foreign policy since the beginning of WWII and the direction it's heading.
- Please tell me if you know the song!There is a jazz song at minute 8 that I really want the name of.Please someone know!
- My thoughtsTruly a "MUST SEE" video!I am shareing this with all of my family and many friends.We had better wake up to what is happening while we let "them" run the country and pay little attention to what is happening to our industrial complex.It may already be too late!
- The military industrial complex has three legs, the third one is CongressWhat I most like in this documentary is that it gives an inside look into the military industrial complex.You see how weapon systems are first being proposed, and also how Lockheed celebrates the winning of a bid.But you also see how Congress supports the military industrial complex.The arms manufacturers act very intelligently, by distributing the production facilities over all the states of America, so each and every congressman applauds when defense budget is going up.You also will see some ... Read More
