Why We Fight ****

Why We Fight is an expertly made documentary that manages to ask all the right questions and avoid becoming an editorialized war rant. Unlike Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, this is not a narrated documentary with an objective to show one particular viewpoint. This documentary manages to stay impartial while taking the audience on an enlightening journey through the history of the “military industrial complex.”

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki doesn’t spell everything out for you but rather lets you come to your own conclusions. This is documentary filmmaking at its best. The subject is thoroughly researched and fairly presented. The film doesn’t pander and isn’t emotionally manipulative, but instead asks questions and leaves you to ponder their implications. Using a good mix of archival footage, news clips and interviews, Jarecki manages to weave the events of the past and present seamlessly.

The most interesting part of this film is when Jarecki breaks down the ties that bind. He shows you how the arms contractors leverage their economic power by farming out their components to all part of the US. When congress or the defense department begins talks of any project shuttering, the defense industry has positioned themselves so this would create economic hardships on many areas – affecting reelection prospects of many congress members. Jarecki also takes care not to paint this as a Republican problem or a Democratic problem, but rather a problem with the American political system in general. The film closes with a good summation of the issues posed when one of the experts states succinctly that the battle at hand is between capitalism and democracy and “when capitalism is winning, democracy is losing.”

Whether you’re a red or a blue, I highly recommend this documentary.