Documentary "Why We Fight", Walpole Public Library, Tuesday, May 13

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group will be showing the documentary, “Why We Fight,” at the Walpole public library on May 13 at 7:30 PM. “Why We Fight,” which was a Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is an unflinching look at the anatomy of American war making. Granted unparalleled Pentagon access, the film launches a nonpartisan inquiry into the forces – political, economic, and ideological – that drive America to fight.

The film opens with President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address in which he warned Americans about the dangers of the “military industrial complex”.


Filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki, then goes on to show that the “military industrial complex” has expanded to include Congress and think tanks and has today resulted in all these interests becoming alarmingly entangled in the business of war.

The film interviews both conservatives, such as, William Kristol, Richard Perle and John McCain and liberals, such as Chalmers Johnson and Gore Vidal. John McCain states, among other things, that the “military industrial complex” today “borders on corruption both in industry and the Pentagon” and that, ”our priorities are set by what benefits corporations as opposed to what benefits the country.”

This is a very important topic that has a profound impact on all our lives. For fiscal 2008, defense related spending will exceed $ one trillion! Doing very basic math, this equates to roughly $83 million for the people of Walpole! Our own town budget is roughly $65 million. Every town in the U.S. will continue to struggle financially unless we find a way to get our military spending under control.

Come and bring a neighbor, tell a friend. Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, 7:30 PM, Walpole Library.