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- Contains strong language and real images of war horror
Why We Fight
An unflinching and award-winning look at the anatomy of American war-making.
Documentary 2004 99 mins
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Overview
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 Trials of Henry Kissinger) 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-winning film is a portrait of a nation in transition - drifting dangerously far from her founding principles towards a more imperial and uncertain future.
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