Inspired by dwight eisenhower's legendary farewell speech in which he coined the phrase military industrial complex , filmmaker eugene jarecki surveys the scorched landscape of a half century's military adventures, asking how and telling why a nation of, by, and for the people has become the savings and loan of a system whose survival depends on a state of constant war'. '.strtoupper('t')he film moves beyond the headlines of various american military operations to the deeper questions of why why does america fight'? '.strtoupper('w')hat are the forces political, economic, ideological that drive a people to fight against an ever changing enemy?why we fight won the grand jury prize documentary at the sundance film festival'. '.strtoupper('i')t is an unflinching look at the anatomy of the american war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a who's who of military and washington beltway insiders'. '.strtoupper('f')eaturing john mccain, gore vidal, william kristol, chalmers johnson, richard perle and others, why we fight launches a bipartisan inquiry into the workings of the military industrial complex and the rise of the american empire.special featurescommentary by director eugene jarecki and col'. '.strtoupper('l')awrence wilkersonextended scenes extended character featurettes audience qa with filmmakerextended scenes extended character featurettes audience qa with filmmakerfilmmaker tv appearances the daily show with jon stewart and charlie rose