Why We Fight

Why We Fight, a documentary by Eugene Jarecki, addresses the question in the title, but misses a fundamental truth.

The movie begins with an excerpt from President Eisenhower's farewell address in which he warns against the development of the "military-industrial complex." Through a series of interviews with past and present politicians, military personnel, and weapons manufacturers, we see that Eisenhower's warning has gone unheeded.

Corporations like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and so many others, are earning billions of dollars defending the United States, protecting our freedom. That is, the movie explains, the answer most citizens give when asked, Why do we fight? But could it be that those corporations themselves are the reason we fight?

Imagine this ... Defense contractors make weapons. They employ people. They fuel the economy in hundreds of small towns across the country, wherever they have a factory, which, by design, is in almost every state. But what happens if there's no war? Supply and demand. The demand for weapons decreases, defense contractors make less money, factories close, people are out of work, they blame their elected representatives (members of Congress), who respond by pushing for ever greater defense spending. This is the military-industrial complex Eisenhower foresaw. However, he neglected to include, perhaps on purpose, the roll of Congress. We should speak, the movie explains, of the military-industrial-Congressional complex.

Still, something's missing.

When asked, why do we fight, most people respond, "Freedom," or "Democracy." However, freedom and democracy are not synonymous.

How much do you pay in taxes? Do you keep your door locked at night? Do you feel safe walking down any street in your neighborhood at any time? Do you have laws you have to obey? Freedom is relative, and even in a non-democratic country there can be a degree of freedom.

And what of democracy, rule by the people? Can we force that on another country? Isn't that like trying to force someone to love you? Even if we believe that democracy is a good form of government, even the best form of government, which it most assuredly is not, isn't it the choice of the citizens of any particular country to choose it for themselves? What right does the United States have to force democracy on another country? Unfortunately, Why We Fight doesn't touch on this point.

Why We Fight includes the story of a New York police officer who's son was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. When that father heard the President of the United States insinuate that Iraq was responsible, he wanted nothing more than to bomb the hell out of them. He even wrote letters asking that his son's name be written on one of the bombs to be dropped in that country.

But Iraq was not responsible for the terrorist attacks on September 11th, and eventually, after US troops were already swarming across the desert, the President admitted that. Then there was a new reason: Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And then, when that was proven false, the reason for the war was said to be to free the Iraqi people from the clutches of the despotic tyrant, Saddam Hussein. And now that he's gone?

Random Notions rating: 8 out of 10.