After foolishly missing it at the recent True/False Festival, I recently caught a showing of the new documentary Why We Fight (thanks to Ann Marie's encouragement).

This smart, patient film looks at evidence spanning more than 60 years and includes interviews with a wide range of people, from Gore Vidal to Richard Perle, from John McCain to the father of a 9/11 victim, to the Stealth fighter pilots who dropped the first bombs in our current war on Iraq. Interspersed are telling historical anecdotes relating to our nation's transformation during and after WWII and the amazing tale of five-star-general-turned-president Dwight D. Eisenhower's realization of the increasing--and frightening--role that militarization was playing in American life.

The conclusion that the evidence points to is an alarming shift in power away from elected government--which still has some degree of accountability to the people--and toward a more secretive network of military contractors and militaristic think-tanks and advisors who are, in essence, writing government policy without any accountability.

The result of all that is a film that is insightful and emotional while never being cheap or sensational. Unlike, say, Michael Moore films, this one is sober, calm, and largely allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions. Sights like footage of carnage in Iraq and a military contractor performing magic tricks at a military-vendor trade show (sleight of hand, anyone?) tell stories more powerful than words.

It's an emotional film, but it doesn't play on your emotions so much as it calls on your sense of common decency. It's a bracing reminder about what we've come to take for granted as normal and acceptable, and what we're still accepting today, over 60 years after our last necessary war ended. Highly recommended.

For more info, see the film's official site, an interview with director Eugene Jarecki, and an opinion piece by Walter Cronkite addressing the film.

Labels: Culture