Why We Fight (2005) by Eugene Jarecki is a strong advocacy document that revisits an insight made by President Eisenhower in his farewell address on January 17, 1961. In the speech (top still), Eisenhower convincingly warns against the expanding power of a "military-industrial complex." Jarecki adds Congress and think tanks to expand the hungry scope of this "complex," and the film details the decisions that followed 9/11 and led to war. Jarecki assembles a sweeping set of interviews and well-edited archival footage. An appealing "everyman" character is a NYC policeman who lost a son (second still). Another important voice is Chalmers Johnson (third still), formerly of the CIA. Following the March 19, 2003 invasion of Iraq, Naji Sheeshan, Director of the Baghdad Morgue, keeps the names of the dead (fourth still). The film's historical and analytical material is stronger than sarcastic footage of un-lovely jingoism at Main Street parades.
