Why We FIght (USA:2005, 98 mins.)

Thursday February 21, 2008, 5:30pm & 7:30pm
Written & Directed by Eugene Jarecki

Why We Fight opens with a now-famous speech in which outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns of the pernicious and growing influence of what he called the military-industrial complex (or military-industrial-congressional complex, as he originally wrote).  While some people sincerely believe that America's 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 democracy” around the world, the real reason we fight is that war is good business. (This is hardly news - anyone who is surprised by allegations that politicians pander to defense contractors, or that Vice President Dick Cheney helped secure huge deals for Halliburton, simply hasn't been paying attention.)
Why We Fight
Why We Fight surveys a half-century of military conflicts, asking how – and answering why – a nation of, by and for the people has become the savings-and-loan of a government system whose survival depends on an Orwellian state of constant war.  It features interviews and observations by a "who’s who" of military and Washington insiders including Senator John McCain, Gore Vidal, and Dan Rather. Why We Fight moves far beyond the headlines of various American military operations to the deeper questions of why America seemingly is always at war. What are the forces – political, economic, and ideological – behind the creation and pursuit of an ever-changing enemy?

Unforgettable, powerful and at times disturbing, Why We Fight supplies enough material to make Eisenhower look like a prophet and to make everyone else uneasy about the confluence of politics, money, and war that has taken control of the country's fortunes. Why We Fight serves as a grim reminder that the world's most powerful nation has strayed far from the principles of our founding fathers, to the detriment of the entire world.

Discussions to Follow Each Screening. Please join us.

Special Guest: ????.

Producer's Web Site: www.SonyClassics.com/WhyWeFight

 

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