Why We Fight Response
After watching the film, Why We Fight, please look at the following questions.
Everyone is going to answer question #1. You are to then pick one of the following
other questions. We are looking for a solid, well thought out paragraphs for each of
the questions you respond too.
1. Do you agree with the film's statement that Eisenhower's fears have been
realized, and that the needs of the "military-industrial complex" have been the
principal drivers behind the numerous U.S. invasions since WWII? Or were there
other factors at work that are not adequately taken into account into the film?
2. A number of the experts interviewed for Why We Fight point out that the
phrase "military-industrial complex" was, in Eisenhower's original draft of the
1961 farewell address, "military-industrial-congressional complex." The film
makes the case that the U.S. Congress has made possible the influence of the
military establishment and arms industry on U.S. foreign policy. Since U.S.
citizens elect the Congress, what is their responsibility for enabling this
influence?
3. Suppose the U.S. topples a foreign dictatorship by force and successfully
helps to install a more democratic government; or suppose it intervenes militarily
in a humanitarian crisis. Suppose, further, that the interests of the militaryindustrial complex play a major role in these actions. Does this show that the
influence of the military-industrial complex on public policy may not always be a
bad thing?
4. Why We Fight suggests that World War II was the last U.S. military operation
for which there existed a good justification. Is there ever a good justification for
war? What are the traditional definitions of a just war? Do they apply to any of the
U.S. invasions since WWII and if so, which ones?
5. According to the director, Jarecki, "Since World War II, America has been on a
path toward empire." Is this still true, or as many believe, are we once more
becoming a multipolar world?