Why We Fight
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Movie Reviews of Why We Fight
Movie Review: Foundation Film With Fog of War, Wal-Mart, and The Corporation
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a foundation film, a foundation for citizens restoring power to the people and removing it from the corporations. Other films that complement this one are the Fog of War (documentary with McNamara), the Wal-Mart video, and "The Corporation" on how corporations use their "legal personality" to keep their managers immune from accountabiity.
High points of this video:
1) General and President Eisenhower's son says on camara that his dad told him he wished we had never invented the nuclear bomb, when Truman used it it made him feel "low."
2) Growing gap between the elite and the public. Still a general assumption by the public that the govenrment knows more than they do about the reasons for going to war.
3) Too many accept the premise that democracy can be imposed at gunpoint, and do not realize (see my review of book "The End of Faith") that religious fanatism must be repressed before secular democracy can be adopted.
4) Huge segment on how the draft was our best defense against being manipulated, how the volunteer Army makes it possible for the elite to use the military for the wrong reasons while lying to the public.
5) Good references to how the rest of the world sees us as practicing economic colonialism combined with unilateral militarism.
6) Oil, oil, oil and lies, lies, lies.
7) Elite lesson from Viet-Nam was that death cannot be seen in US living rooms. The embedded media, far from being more useful is being distracted at the tactical level, and kept from focusing on the strategic question of "is this war necessary?"
8) Senator Byrd is featured as the lone adult voice against the war. Congress is widely perceived as having failed in every possible way because it is both beholden to the military-industrial complex and its bribes, and has (see my review of book "The Broken Branch") abdicated its role as the "first" branch of government and accepted a subordinate role as "footsoldiers of the President."
9) Perhaps most useful, as more and more voices call for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, is the clips of the lies told to us on television by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice, interspersed with interviews of military and other intelligence analysts who now can speak of the truth as it was known then. This DVD could be "Exhibit A" in any impeachment trial.
10) Hottest quote: "A terrible thing when Americans can't trust their President....the government exploited (my emotions and trust after 9/11)".
11) Those interviews believe that we had no exit strategy from Iraq precisely because Cheney and Rumsfeld did not plan to leave, and they cite as proof the fact that 14 permanent installations have been built in Iraq, instead of the reconstruction and stabilization of the civil sector that would normally be the priority in an exit strategy.
This is a compelling objective film. Those who demean it by associating it with the Oliver Stone JFK conspiracy documentary are doing Amazon readers and the DVD a great dis-service.
Movie Review: Money Rules American Politics/Defense
Summary: 5 Stars
Being relatively well educated, I, of course, had read about Ike's farewell speech to the nation and his warnings about "the military industrial complex". But I'd never heard the full dialogue until watching WHY WE FIGHT. I'd also never realized how prophetic his speech was until now. Could America be run by the military business machine? With 22 percent of our great nation's current budget dedicated as such, it shouldn't surprise many what the answer turns out to be (lets not forget Vice President Dick Cheney's close "affiliation" with Halliburton, too).
The wonderful thing about the film is that it doesn't interject the documentary-maker's opinion. He simply goes up to individuals and asks, "Why do we fight?" The answers are as varied as the faces that grace the screen. Some say, "For freedom." Others shrug and comment, "That's a very good question." While still others intone, "It's part of our nature."
From a lowly Vietnam Vet turned cop, to a retired Pentagon official, to Presidential candidates, the camera pans across a broad stroke of Americans with this very basic question. But the answers are anything but basic.
The most telling of these is the Vietnam Vet turned retired police officer who's son was killed on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. Being a good American and dedicated father, this man asks the military to write his son's name on one of the bombs being targeted at Iraq. Eventually this happens, but once the truth about Al-qaeda and Iraq surfaces (there wasn't a connection, per President Bush), he begins to seriously question U.S. policy (both domestic and foreign).
Lines between politics, economy, jobs, morality, and the military are blurred beyond recognition when one watches this award winning documentary. And it's an excellent way to show how integrated all of these things have become within the American framework and mindset.
One problem: If there's anything that's more telling about a country, it's how it is viewed by its neighbors. I would've liked to have seen some interviews with Canadian and Mexican people or authorities (my only negative comment about this superlative film).
Similar films have come out recently that mirror much of these problems. SYRIANA being one -- its focus was on the exact thing that WHY WE FIGHT shows us -- and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK which presented us the dangers of letting government bully us around without explanation. The fascinating relevance of these two films to this one is that SYRIANA and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK were fiction (GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK wasn't really, but it WAS Hollywoodized) while WHY WE FIGHT was purely a documentary. That's what scared me the most. And it's also why I respect the makers of WHY WE FIGHT. They got their message across stronger than anything with special effects in it.
Movie Review: The military industrial complex has three legs, the third one is Congress
Summary: 5 Stars
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 quite extraordinarily images of ordinary people inventing bombs and producing them. What most amazed me was the high number of women involved ! And when interviewed, one of them said that she would definitively prefer making toys. But that was the job she got... What kind of economy is this ? Well, this huge logistic machinery serves the troops on the front ! Therefore, the US needs to be at war permanently.
When Eisenhower pronounced his farewell speech in 1961 he warned us that we should never let the weight of the military industrial complex "endanger our liberties or our democratic processes". However, he already knew, being president, that he himself was unable to stop them. The defense budget rose continuously when he was president, due to pressure of the Big Arms Producers on Congress.
It is also clear that the huge profits made by this industry influence directly foreign policy of the US. In 1963 Kennedy was killed by the military industrial complex, because he wanted to retreat from Vietnam and make peace with the Soviet Union. In 2001, we got a big fireworks show in New York. Do you remember how many skyscrapers collapsed ? Two ? No : three. That's weird, isn't it, when only two planes hit the WTC-towers. How do they do that ? Maybe, to prevent us from asking too many questions, we got the Patriot Act, fulfilling Eisenhower's fear that one day we will suffer from "endangering our liberties". So less than 40 years after Eisenhower's farewell speech, his predictions rang true. The US abolished its democracy in 1963, and stopped being a free country in 2001. What is left is an Evil Empire - dominating the world.
Why we fight ? For freedom ? No. For business ? Certainly. The arms industry is the biggest industry of the US, so it needs to fuel it profits by making war. And also, like a historian tells in this documentary : "The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is to reposition the US as the country that must be obeyed. It's an easy way to send a signal to the planet that the US is in charge and that it's gone do what it wants. Who defies the US must be punished." The US has no exit plan of Iraq, because 14 permanent bases have been constructed. The second biggest oil reserves of this world will be "safe" - for freedom ?
Movie Review: A Fair & Balanced Argument
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie really is amazing. It is at once thought-provoking and (surprisingly) balanced as it explores American foreign policy from WWII through the present day. I must admit that I hadn't heard of the film before seeing it in the store, and what initially drew me to it was the front cover of the dvd, which features the face of a man I admire.
Though he was far from perfect (personally and politically he was a man like any other, with strengths and weaknesses) he remains a character in our nation's history who is deserving of a great measure of our respect. As I began to watch the film, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I am not alone in my fondness for President Eisenhower. The film uses (as the center of its moral argument) Eisenhower's Farewell Message to the nation, in which he urged us all to be careful, to beware the possible dangers of an "industrial military-complex." Only a man as tested in war as Eisenhower was could have delivered such a warning to his fellow Americans. Sadly, it seems his country failed to heed the warning.
The film realizes this, and weaves the audience through the winding road of Truman's Containment policy, the Korean War, our involvement in Vietnam...up to present day activity in the Middle East. It is difficult at times to stare quarely into the face of sad truths: that much of the power in our democracy today (in a Post-9/11 world) is in the hands of opportunistic politicos, big business, and an all-too willing Congress. (To be sure, I say this all as a person of deep faith in his country and her leaders). Nevertheless, the argument can be made -and it is in this film- that we have drifted from the path of pride and honor.
With so much of the American economy (so many towns, men and women) in some form or another invested in the military establishment (from the Armed Services to large corporations such as Boeing and Sikorsky) it is easy to see how much each of our lives is touched by the politics of it all. Whether we like it or not, we as a country have become engaged...we are in a position of great responsibilities. This nation is often on the right side of history and morality...sometimes, though, it is not.
What I found very impressive is that both sides are given room and opprtunity to speak in the caring documentary. Too often we are handed peices of garbage that parade as "documentary" (from the likes of people with clear agendas, like Michael Moore of "Bowling for Columbine" fame). The director here however has made a successful attempt at looking at the WHOLE picture, unflinching, asking us to make up our own minds.
Movie Review: Every American should see this documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the few encouraging recent trends in American film is the growing popularity and production of popular documentaries. Many have been inspired by disturbing events surrounding our current government and its actions both domestically and around the world. Eugene Jarecki's "Why We Fight" is one the of the very best in recent years. This grand jury prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival takes a close examination at why the US is at war in Iraq. It does so while simultaneously relating President's Eisenhower's out going warning of a growing military-industrial complex.
Like many a good documentarian, Jarecki lets a variety of voices speak the truth of the tale, with the camera and microphone subjective witnesses. We meet a retired New York City police officer who lost a son as a consequence of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Like many Americans he was understandably angry and vengeful in the wake of the heinous terrorists attacks, suffused with patriotism. But also like many Americans he has grown disillusioned with his government for a war in Iraq that has been wasteful (in dollars and lives) and sadly cynical.
Professor and former CIA analyst Chalmers Johnson and others speak to the probable real motives of the war and other US foreign policy ventures. Particularly powerful are the words of retired Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatowski, who served at the Pentagon's Middle East desk. She was an insider who became first disenchanted and ultimately disgusted as she saw the neo cons create an unnecessary war.
"Why We Fight" explores the enormous profits made by war (the United States spends more on defense than everything else in the federal budget combined and more that all its enemies combined). It also reveals how the military industrial complex has come to also include the U.S. Congress and think tanks.
Among the many prices paid are the hearts and souls, limbs and lives of ordinary Americans, the deaths of tens thousands of Iraqis and the goodwill that pored to the US from all over the world (including Iran) after 9/11.
The DVD includes an excellent special features packages. It is highlighted by a Jarecki Q&A session, a closer look at some of the film's "characters" and extra scenes.
"Why We Fight" is the ideal antidote for people who wanted to like Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9-1-1" more but were put off by Moore or the hullabaloo that swirled around the well intended documentary.
"Why We Fight" may help wake some Americans up to the insatiable appetite of the military industry complex, the damage it has done and can yet do.