Why We Fight

I'm as put off by liberals who see only from the perspective of the left as I am by conservatives who see only from the right, so I didn't much enjoy Michael Moore's films. This film however, is not about bashing anyone. This film illustrates how money influences politics, and that is bad for America no matter if you are Republican, Democrat or other. True patriots don't wrap themselves in the flag, they ask hard questions. This film does just that.

And what answers do we find? We find that Eisenhower, a military man of all people, was very scared that having this much power and money invested in a standing army and a huge profit driven industry supporting it, would haunt future Americans.

The film then sets out to show, very convincingly, that we have indeed been involved in conflicts we should not been involved in, and did so for all the wrong reasons. One of the films most important moments is when it shows Bush on tape stating that we did not go into Iraq for reasons related to 9/11. Most American citizens, completely buffaloed by Fox News Channel (when they can be pulled away from watching sports), are completely oblivious to this fact.

As a viewer of this movie at the premier last year in Park City, I was deeply impacted about the truth and objective reporting that this movie tries to portray about our country and the logical (and historical) progression that lead us to war. When Jarecki was asked in PC why he did not release the film during the election, he steadfastly stated that the film was not about Bush bashing, but was about trying to show the American public how democracy works, (both pro and con). I do not usually get worked up about a film or politics, but after viewing this film a year ago, I have talked about it continuously and it's lessons to all who are willing to listen. I steadfastly believe that this film should be shown in the classroom to educate, and perhaps forewarn our youth about being vigilant of our sometimes overreaching capitalistic tendencies. This is coming from an individual who has enjoyed the bounties of capitalism, but got a wakeup call. GO SEE THIS FILM!

As a European I've wondered about America's preoccupation with war and military. Most Europeans oppose military solutions, even when there's a good case for it, probably because of our history of many, many bloody wars.

This movie explains the historic, financial and political reasons for America's enormous military spending (but I'm still left wondering why the people of USA want it).

Eisenhower's farewell speech was very insightful. I had no idea he had seen the dangers already 40 years ago. Using this speech as the base, the filmmaker looks at how the military-industrial establishment has grown to enormous proportions. The military is a part of American society in a way completely different from most European countries.

I would like to see a sequel to this movie, dealing more with American society, perhaps contrasting it with some other big countries (England, France, Germany).

The negative reviews of this film seem to center around "those arrogant, hypocritical Europeans." If any of these reviewers had done their research, they would know that Jarecki is a New Yorker. Just because the film takes a firm stance against America's militarism does not mean that Mr. Jarecki is European.

Why We Fight is a superb complement to Errol Morris' Oscar-winning Fog of War. Morris took indirect shots at George Bush II by showing a Lyndon Johnson speech referring to Vietnam as "a war against tyranny and aggression." In that speech, Johnson also reiterated, "We won't leave until the job is finished." Sound familiar?

Jarecki picks up where Morris left off, more directly highlighting the similarities between Vietnam and the present conflict in Iraq. There are most certainly differences, but the parallels cannot and MUST NOT be ignored if the American people are to have any hope of learning from our government's past and present missteps. Most significantly, Jarecki shows how each conflict was escalated through a lie (Gulf of Tonkin/WMD) and nonsensical pro-freedom rhetoric from the government and the media.

Unlike Michael Moore's poorly constructed Farenheit 9/11, Jarecki does not limit the scope of the film to simplistic Bush team bashing. That's not to say this is absent from the film; Jarecki is obviously anti-Bush and left-leaning. However, he successfully illustrates how all of our elected representatives, Republicans and Democrats, are influenced by the Industrial-Military Complex.

You cannot fight a war against an abstraction (i.e. War on Terror, War on Communism, War on Drugs, War on Crime, et al). People are the true targets of wars. Declaring war without officially declaring it and abusing words like freedom and liberty are just ways of dehumanizing the conflict, and if we dehumanize war, we will never stop fighting.

This is a film that everyone in America should see, and if it is truly so enraging to the right-wingers, I would challenge them to make a comparable documentary defending the Iraq War. I would gladly watch it to see their side of the coin.

"We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." - James Madison

"The Department of Defense is a behemoth...With an annual budget larger than the gross domestic product of Russia, it is an empire." - The 9/11 Commission Report

This is truly a remarkable film. In its subtlety, and its poetry it outshines "..9/11". While Moore's film remains an extraordinary piece of work - the criticisms could be spun by the right as a 'liberal rant' - largely due to Moore's obvious, and justified frustration.

Why we Fight presents a lyrical and devastatingly haunting portrait of a system that has failed the west - specifically America - time and time again in a repeating cycle. The narrative carefully builds an historical context for the present administration's actions, and unfolds a story of how Americans, even the most staunch supporters of Bush's policies, have gradually learnt that they've been lied to, lied about and then lied to again as the administration is called on to answer for their lies.

With extraordinary research, and some incredible interview contributors, the facts are again repeated - indeed, they gain, perhaps even greater impact because of the historical context - and the warnings of past leaders.

It is above all a film which at once makes you terribly sad - and frustrated. But the surprise - for me at least - was that my anger became levelled not so much at the arrogance of our governments, and those in the positions of power - but at the stupefying inaction of the voting public.

I need only direct you to another of the 'reviews' of this film to underline just how poisoned the populous is, and just how stupid people have allowed themselves to become.

-------- The director spoke at Sundance about how he consciously prevented this breathtaking documentary from being screened before the election in 04 - largely because he felt the message of the film is not partisan, and not about a particular administration - but it is about the system. My only frustration about this is that I can only imagine what the snowballing effects of this film might have been had it been allowed to swiftly follow 'Fahrenheit 911'.