Why We Fight (2006)

 Incisive and Balanced, A Must See Documentary.
My uncle and I were discussing this documentary and a few others (like "Crude Awakening" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room") the other day over barbecue & beers, and we came to the conclusion that if we were could dictate one law, it would be that all American voters would be required to watch this masterpiece, along with say three or four others (like the two aforementioned) and participate in a discussion group prior to registering.

I realize that is a ridiculous impossibility, an absurdity, given that no one in power (Democrat or Republican) or those who shill for them would ever allow that sort of thing, but it's still a pretty idea.

This is hard hitting stuff, rife with shocking revelations (shocking, I mean, if you haven't been paying attention the last fifteen to fifty years, like apparently most of our fellow citizens..) And unlike partisan stuff like Micheal Moore's work, it is mostly a series of interviews from people actually involved in government or the intelligence establishment, interspaced with lots of archival video documenting the evolution of the "military-congressional-industrial" complex.

It's mostly straight from the horse's mouth, in other words. You get incredible stuff, starting with clips & interviews with Presidents Truman, Johnson, Reagan, both Bush H.W. & W., Clinton, and of course Eisenhower - whose famous farewell address, which echoes that of George Washington (who warned us of maintaining standing armies and foreign entanglements), and provides the conceptual hook that draws the entire piece together.

Other voices here include Eisenhower's son & granddaughter (John E. Brig Gen. Ret. USA & Susan E.), professor and former CIA analyst Chalmers Johnson, neocon pundit William Kristol, activist Charles Lewis, the historian Gwynne Dyer, Dick Cheney, Senator John McCain, Senator Robert Byrd, former Air Force intelligence officer Karen Kwiatkowski, author Gore Vidal, Bush adviser Ricard Pearle, Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche, retired NYPD officer Wilton Sekzer, the US Airforce officers who flew the Stealth Bombers who dropped the first bombs on Baghdad in 2003, and many others.

No matter what your political orientation, no matter what you think about what is happening in Iraq, this movie is worth your time. It is not mere propaganda, not agitprop. It is a true documentary, even (I say) a work of art. It will enlighten, and give you a lot to ponder.

I've bought it to share with people, I think it's that essential.

I can't recommend it highly enough. Watch it. April 24, 2008

 GREAT
WORTH GETTING FOR ANY SCHOOL HISTORY CLASS OR EVEN JUST FOR ANY FAN OF HISTORY April 9, 2008

 Why there's no choice about going to war."
If you want to find out what is wrong about the last 30 years of bland, company-owned presdidents, this is the real deal. Yup, after this many years, raised during the Eisenhower years, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was seen on the tube as just a fuddy-duddy,this shocking documentary will make you stand up and salute Ike and those presidents before him, who never had the opportunity for Madison Avenue to "sell" them to the public. I consider the speech Ike gave days before Kennedy took office to be as shattering to the psyche as the Zapruder Dallas dastardly deal on JFK. After seeing this film, you just may be convinced that some advertising whip wanted a brand change that day in Dallas. It is clearly layed out by the documentarian that since we created the scaffolding to produce such persidential monsters, we ought to be man enough to tear down the scaffolding. I second the motion. A sobering view of war and how it can be sold so easily. April 6, 2008

 Amazing insight
Without writing a super long rant, which I definitely could in support of this movie, I'll simply say watch it and learn. A lot of the information presented is not new or ground breaking. The director simply places the facts out on display that many Americans choose to overlook. Questioning your government's use of the military is not unpatriotic. Feedback from the educated citizens is an essential part of democracy. Please watch this movie and ask yourself...Why do we fight?? Is it to rid the world of these ever elusive terrorists, or is it to maintain our position as the world superpower and to line the pockets of the special interest groups that sell military armament to the government. It's our future, and our responsibility to notice a grave injustice and stand for the real ideals of America. March 24, 2008

 Preaching to the choir, but good preaching nonetheless
The message? Right on the mark, clear and unmistakably accurate.

The delivery? Well done and entertaining.

The problem? The people that should watch this won't watch this.

The issue is that this movie can only preach to the choir. So, if you want to see a movie that tells you everything you already know (that is, if you know the military industrial complex is evil), then watch this.

Maybe I'm being too harsh though. It may be that the movies points are too clear - too well laid out, not just too obvious. It's just frustrating when you know the truth, yet, without pause, whenever the person in the white house bangs the war drums & waves fear....everyone will fall in line.

This movie goes to the art house and the soldiers head to to Iran. March 15, 2008

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