In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of a “military-industrial complex” that could come to dominate the nation. “Why We Fight,” Eugene Jarecki’s powerful documentary, delineates how Eisenhower’s prophecy has come to pass, leading directly to the war in Iraq.

Unlike Michael Moore who made blistering personal attacks in “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Jarecki carefully marshals his talking-head interviews, on-the-scene footage and vintage films to make a compelling argument against not only the Bush administration’s war policy but the pervasive power of the military/industrial/think tank establishment and the Congress that it manipulates for its gain.

Among those interviewed are William Kristol, the head of the neo-con think tank the Project for the American Century; Richard Perle, a longtime neo-con foreign policy activist; and the two pilots who dropped the first bombs in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On the other side of the debate are Sen. John McCain, who notes that the complex has become so pervasive it is almost invisible, former CIA analyst Chalmers Johnson, along with a Defense Department analyst and a former Army Pentagon officer who says she retired because of the manipulation of intelligence leading up to attacking Iraq.

That would be standard talking-head stuff. But Jarecki brings in another round of commentators to provide background and depth for his argument — two of Eisenhower’s children, author Gore Vidal, who says, in regard to the military/industrial complex, that we are the “United States of Amnesia,” and Gwynne Dyer, the military historian and journalist whose column runs in the Journal Star.

But the most enlightening parts of the documentary come when Jarecki’s crew ventures into the field to interview everyday Iraqis, who saw “smart” bombs that were aimed at Saddam Hussein’s palaces miss their targets and kill their family and friends, then go to an arms trade show outside Washington where the merchants of missiles, fighter planes and all other things military engage the Pentagon brass in hopes of selling their products.

Those products, an Air Force procurement officer says, sell because of the new bells and whistles, that may not be necessary — just like buying a car. And Jarecki outlines how the corporations first use their influence on the Pentagon to get a new line of arms started, then spread their money through Congress and congressional districts to ensure that the armament will be built.

For example, parts of the B-1 bomber are made in every state, virtually ensuring that the project will never be canceled.

The film also makes the link between Vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton in a way that makes sense, starting with the contract that Cheney, as Secretary of Defense, issued to a Halliburton subsidiary to study whether private industry should take over some military functions. Surprise, surprise — the study found in favor of private industry. Halliburton then hired Cheney, who became rich heading the company. He was then elected vice president and Halliburton has harvested a huge share of defense contracts under the Bush administration.

Regardless of whether you agree with Jarecki’s analysis and the way he connects the dots, “Why We Fight” raises issues and arguments that deserve to be debated, not simply swept away.

And it does so by reaching beyond just the policy discussions, touching on real lives, like that of retired New York City policeman Wilton Sekzer, a Vietnam vet who lost a son in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and was a gung-ho supporter of the war in Iraq — was being the operant word.

His story adds another dimension to the discussion and adds even more power to a documentary that examines U.S. military and foreign policy of the past 50 years, the rise of think tanks and the even greater importance of the complex and again tries to warn us.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@journalstar.com.