WHY WE FIGHT (2005)
A film by Eugene Jarecki
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, WHY
WE FIGHT takes an unflinching look at the anatomy of American
war-making. With unparalleled Pentagon access, the film launches
a non partisan inquiry into the forces – political, economic, and
ideological – that drive the United States of America to fight.
Inspired by President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 Farewell
Address in which he warned Americans about the dangers of the
“military-industrial complex”, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (The
House I Live In) weaves unforgettable stories of everyday citizens
touched by war, with commentary by a ‘who’s who’ of military and
Washington insiders.
Featuring Senator John McCain, Gore Vidal, Richard Perle and
many others, WHY WE FIGHT explores a half century of U.S.
foreign policy from World War II to the Iraq War, revealing how, as
Eisenhower warned, political and corporate interests have become
alarmingly entangled in the business of war. On a deeper level, what emerges in this award-wi