Why We Fight

This weekend, I watched a film entitled Why We Fight, the title of which alludes to a Frank Capra series of films from World War II. In the mode of a hard-hitting expose (accent on the "e"), it proposes that the main reasons we are fighting in Iraq today are a) to feed profits to the military-industrial complex, and b) to create an American empire that spans the globe. It takes a historical stance stemming from Pres. Eisenhower's farewell address, warning that the military-industrial complex could take power away from the people and rob us of our democracy. It's an interesting proposal -- that the Pentagon doesn't fully control the war machine it has created, that Congress doesn't, that the President doesn't. Every single President since Eisenhower has used military force of some kind or another. We even installed Saddam Hussein in Iraq as a counter-balance to Iran, then demonized him when he overreached his appointed role, according to the film. I don't know whether I fully agree with the film, but its perspective is interesting. An outsider to America might wholeheartedly agree, but I, as part of the freedom-loving citizenry that the military protects, have to withhold judgment until I can sort out for myself what the war really means for the nation and for the whole world.