Why We Fight (2005)

Director:

Eugene Jarecki

Writer:

Eugene Jarecki (written by)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Tagline:

It is nowhere written that the American empire goes on forever.

Plot:

Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.

Plot Keywords:

John F Kennedy | Politics | George Bush | Anti Propaganda | Ronald Reagan

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Ken Adelman	...	Himself
John Ashcroft	...	Himself (archive footage)
Osama Bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Byrd	...	Himself (archive footage)
Frank Capra	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Cirincione	...	Himself
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anh Duong	...	Herself
Gwynne Dyer	...	Himself
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (archive footage)
John S.D. Eisenhower	...	Himself
Susan Eisenhower	...	Herself
Donna Ellington	...	Herself
Dennis Hastert	...	Himself (archive footage)
Saddam Hussein	...	Himself (archive footage)
Chalmers Johnson	...	Himself
Lyndon Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ayatollah Khomeini	...	Himself (archive footage)
William Kristol	...	Himself
Karen Kwiatkowski	...	Herself
Charles Lewis	...	Himself
John McCain	...	Himself
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bill O'Reilly	...	Himself (archive footage)
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Perle	...	Himself
Colin Powell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dan Rather	...	Himself
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself (archive footage)
James G. Roche	...	Himself
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tim Russert	...	Himself (archive footage)
Wally Saeger	...	Himself
Wilton Sekzer	...	Himself
Naj Sheesan	...	Himself
William Solomon	...	Himself
Franklin Spinney	...	Himself
Joseph Stalin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Treadway	...	Himself (as Col. Rich Treadway)
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Valentine	...	Himself
Gore Vidal	...	Himself
Paul Wolfowitz	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Nerf de la guerre, Le (France) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disturbing war images and brief language.

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | Norway:55 min | USA:98 min

Country:

USA | France | UK | Canada | Denmark

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Arte

Quotes:

Karen Kwiatkowski: I have two sons and I will allow none of my children to serve in the United States Military. If you join the military now you are not defending the United States of America, you are helping certain policy makers pursue an imperial agenda.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2006-01-21)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

I Fought In A War

Fair and Balanced

I'm as put off by liberals who see only from the perspective of the left as I am by conservatives who see only from the right, so I didn't much enjoy Michael Moore's films. This film however, is not about bashing anyone. This film illustrates how money influences politics, and that is bad for America no matter if you are Republican, Democrat or other. True patriots don't wrap themselves in the flag, they ask hard questions. This film does just that.

And what answers do we find? We find that Eisenhower, a military man of all people, was very scared that having this much power and money invested in a standing army and a huge profit driven industry supporting it, would haunt future Americans.

The film then sets out to show, very convincingly, that we have indeed been involved in conflicts we should not been involved in, and did so for all the wrong reasons. One of the films most important moments is when it shows Bush on tape stating that we did not go into Iraq for reasons related to 9/11. Most American citizens, completely buffaloed by Fox News Channel (when they can be pulled away from watching sports), are completely oblivious to this fact.