Run, don't walk, to see "Why we Fight"

[question everything]

I don't know if this movie was discussed on DU before.

It is not just the war in Iraq being exposed for all the lies and the lives and the goodwill that have been wasted.

It is how the military industrial complex, that Eisenhower warned in his farewell speech, has shaped this country both domestic and foreign policy.

It is not just the military and the industry, but members of Congress and lobbyists.

I have often observed how so many - voters and their representatives - disdain individuals who live on welfare, yet have no problem in working on defense projects that are, too, a hand out by the government.

If you have seen it, would like to hear your thoughts. We continued to discuss the movie and the state of the union and politics all through our dinner after that.

[serryjw]

1. I saw it a few weeks ago

and loved it...........I don't know why....I was even more depressed afterwards,

[question everything]

2. That's because of the helplessness that nothing can be done

There are too many jobs, in all fifty states, that depend on defense contractors. We have heard of many instances where the Pentagon did not need a certain piece of equipment but Congress forced it to purchase because so many members of Congress dependent on it.

After all, the Senator from South Dakota who beat Daschell promised to keep the military base open and even after it was on the cutting block, he got the White House to reverse course. So much for Republicans supporting a "small government."

I have often tried to explain that it was a good idea that the new African nations chose communism or socialism. When a country is poor it helps it, at least in the first years, to instill a culture of living within one means.

But, of course, this would be against American interests that need every country in the world to purchase American goods - whether it needs them or not.