Why should audiences bother with yet another documentary that covers a subject (the war in Iraq) that has already been well traversed by previous features such as Gunner Palace, Control Room, and Michael Moore’s infamous Fahrenheit 9/11? When a film lands with the edifying panache that Eugene Jarecki’s Why We Fight does, it’s to the benefit of the audience to stop and absorb this compelling and expository reading of what the war meant (and continues to mean).
Jarecki was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Sundance Film Festival for his bracing and unnerving documentary, which presents an innovative angle on the American military might. Pivoting upon the term “military-industrial complex”-which was coined in Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address as a warning to the American public-the film re-traces how the world’s superpower has shifted from its role as a strong democratic ally in World War II to a capitalistic military empire 50 years later.
Opening with a montage that includes various U.S. presidents addressing the foreign conflicts they had a hand in, Jarecki and his resourceful editor (Nancy Kennedy) dissect the Iraq war from a historical perspective, as it appears to be yet another stage in the evolution of the lucrative armament industry.
The film does not saddle any one president or party with accusations, but instead examines how the profits from defence spending have kept a firm lock on Washington’s frame of mind since the nation’s success in WWII. As a former CIA consultant points out: “When war becomes that profitable, you are going to see more of it.”
Jarecki and Kennedy craft their film like a thorough essay, complete with cutting-edge thesis and well-argued points. They avoid taking a prejudiced approach (unlike the sometimes bludgeoning manner of Michael Moore) as they embrace the opinions of noteworthy individuals from both sides of the political conflict, including Senator John McCain, former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle, and Eisenhower’s son.
As with most documentaries, the film can get bogged down in tedium at points, but Jarecki’s staggering vision and Kennedy’s eloquent editing keep the ennui negligible. They are supported by the elegant and chilling score of composer Robert Miller that adds to the urgency of their argument.
For all of its accomplishment, the film may leave audiences in a state of distress. It alerts viewers to the fact that America’s military domination-the modern-day equivalent of the Roman Empire-was decades in the making and is now near-impossible to stop (until its final collapse, that is).
Near the conclusion of Why We Fight, we see a photo of President Eisenhower-his eyes seem to peer at us with a judgmental look of irritation, as if asking why his foreboding warnings from the past were ignored.
