In World War II, Frank Capra made the Why We Figh series of information films. Few Americans at the time found it hard to answer this question: for freedom and democracy. Today, countless armed conflicts later, Americans are not so sure anymore why they constantly go to battle, and many suspect that the current war in Iraq is not waged for the reasons provided by the authorities. A former CIA man states that the United States, in its fight against terrorism, had better ask: 'Why do they hate us?' Without mockery or demagogy, Why We Fight analyses the American war machinery over the past sixty years. We meet experts, civilians and ex-insiders, including the son of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In his farewell speech in January of 1961 president Eisenhower warned against the expanding power of 'the military-industrial complex.' Two components are now added to this: Congress and all sorts of ambitious think-tanks. According to one political analyst, the interdependence of the government and war industry tends towards 'legal corruption.' Because of their grasp on the media, the powers that be, unhampered by the truth, can easily warm up their supporters for international conflicts. The enormous, surging influx of capital in the defence industry leads to the conclusion: 'When war becomes that profitable, you're gonna see more of it.'

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