Why We Fight

This movie is profound. It looks back over more than 50 years of U.S. history, 50 years of my life, and traces the frightening evolution of the military-industrial-Congressional-think tank actions behind making this country into an arrogant superpower. It looks at all administrations who have participated in the tightly woven fabric of the American economy, stitched tightly together with superior weapons and superiority complexes. Couched in the words of Dwight Eisenhower, it moves through his heritage, both John and Susan Eisenhower, and pits the Republicans of the 1950s against those of today. It provides vignettes of the Johnson and Clinton years, so no party goes unscathed. It moves from Gore Vidal and the suave voices of lobbyists and news commentators to the naive views of the American population, an individual Army recruit, and a retired New York City policeman who lost his son in the World Trade Tower and now feels betrayed by his country's response. The movie was purposefully not released in 2004 so it would not be treated as a screed against the Bush administration. Most powerful in its message is the deception the government has shown in explaining its actions, invading countries and continents on some pretext of defense of freedom when strategic position, the bottom line, or oil pipelines are the raw truth behind the action: Nicaragua, Grenada, Bosnia, Iraq. Such a historical picture demands leadership and individual response, neither of which seems ready to provide a counterpoint to this moral wasteland.