Why We Fight

IMDb ID: tt0436971 · Rating: 8.0 (10,456 votes)

Genres: Documentary · History · War

Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these que...

IMDb Details

Content TypeMovieAlternate TitlesAustralia: Why We Fight
Canada: Why We Fight (English)
Canada: Why We Fight (French)
United Kingdom: Why We Fight
Ireland: Why We Fight (English)
India: Why We Fight (English)
New Zealand: Why We Fight (English)
United States: Why We Fight
South Africa: Why We Fight (English)
Finland: Därför krigar vi (Swedish, TV Title)
Poland: Dlaczego walczymy
Argentina: Las razones de la guerra
France: Le Nerf de la guerre (TV Title)
Finland: Miksi me sodimme (TV Title)
Brazil: Razões para a Guerra
Germany: Why We Fight - Wofür führt Amerika Krieg?
Croatia: Zašto se borimo (Festival Title)
Russia: За что мы сражаемся
За что мы сражаемсяContent RatingPG-13Runtime98 minutesMetascore68IMDb Popularity0User Reviews107Critic Reviews137Countries / RegionsUnited Kingdom
France
Denmark
Canada
United StatesLanguagesEnglish
ArabicKeywordspolitical superpower
war crime
war criminal
american imperialism
politics documentaryProduction CompaniesARTE
BBC Storyville
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Official SitesSony Classics (United States) - http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/IMDb URLhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/Local Poster/d/file/imdb/04/tt0436971.jpgUpdated At2026-02-08T23:35:27

Directors

Eugene Jarecki

Writers

Eugene Jarecki

Full Cast & Crew

[Cast Group]
Actor: Ken Adelman | Character: Self
Actor: John Ashcroft | Character: Self
Actor: Osama bin Laden | Character: Self
Actor: George H.W. Bush | Character: Self
Actor: George W. Bush | Character: Self
Actor: Robert Byrd | Character: Self
Actor: Frank Capra | Character: Self
Actor: Dick Cheney | Character: Self
Actor: Joseph Cirincione | Character: Self
Actor: Bill Clinton | Character: Self
Actor: Anh Duong | Character: Self
Actor: Gwynne Dyer | Character: Self
Actor: Dwight D. Eisenhower | Character: Self
Actor: John S.D. Eisenhower | Character: Self
Actor: Susan Eisenhower | Character: Self
Actor: Donna Ellington | Character: Self
Actor: Dennis Hastert | Character: Self
Actor: Saddam Hussein | Character: Self
Actor: Chalmers Johnson | Character: Self
Actor: Lyndon B. Johnson | Character: Self
Actor: John F. Kennedy | Character: Self
Actor: Ayatollah Khomeini | Character: Self
Actor: William Kristol | Character: Self
Actor: Karen Kwiatkowski | Character: Self
Actor: Charles Lewis | Character: Self
Actor: John McCain | Character: Self
Actor: Richard Nixon | Character: Self
Actor: Bill O'Reilly | Character: Self
Actor: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | Character: Self
Actor: Richard Perle | Character: Self
Actor: Colin Powell | Character: Self
Actor: Dan Rather | Character: Self
Actor: Ronald Reagan | Character: Self
Actor: Condoleezza Rice | Character: Self
Actor: James G. Roche | Character: Self
Actor: Donald Rumsfeld | Character: Self
Actor: Tim Russert | Character: Self
Actor: Wally Saeger | Character: Self
Actor: Wilton Sekzer | Character: Self
Actor: Naj Sheesan | Character: Self
Actor: William Solomon | Character: Self
Actor: Franklin Spinney | Character: Self
Actor: Joseph Stalin | Character: Self
Actor: Richard Treadway | Character: Self
Actor: Harry S. Truman | Character: Self
Actor: Michael Valentine | Character: Self
Actor: Gore Vidal | Character: Self
Actor: Paul Wolfowitz | Character: Self

[Directors Group]
Name: Eugene Jarecki | Role: Director

[Writers Group]
Name: Eugene Jarecki | Role: Writer

[Producers Group]
Name: Roy Ackerman | Role: Producer
Name: Prudence Arndt | Role: Producer
Name: Hans Robert Eisenhauer | Role: Producer
Name: Julie Fischer | Role: Producer
Name: Nick Fraser | Role: Producer
Name: Mette Hoffman Meyer | Role: Producer
Name: Eugene Jarecki | Role: Producer
Name: Alessandra Meyer | Role: Producer
Name: Susannah Shipman | Role: Producer

[Music Group]
Name: Robert Miller | Role: Composer

[Cinematography Group]
Name: Étienne Sauret | Role: Cinematographer
Name: May Ying Welsh | Role: Cinematographer
Name: Brett Wiley | Role: Cinematographer

[Editing Group]
Name: Nancy Kennedy | Role: Editor

[Production Management]
Name: Nora Colie | Role: Production Manager
Name: Samara Levenstein | Role: Production Manager

[Sound Department]
Name: Brian James Buckley | Role: Sound Department
Name: Scott Burnell | Role: Sound Department
Name: Joe Caterini | Role: Sound Department
Name: Jim Gallup | Role: Sound Department
Name: Matthew Haasch | Role: Sound Department
Name: Sheila Louis | Role: Sound Department
Name: Mark Mandler | Role: Sound Department
Name: Peter Miller | Role: Sound Department
Name: Tom Paul | Role: Sound Department
Name: Jeff Rowe | Role: Sound Department
Name: Paul Rusnak | Role: Sound Department
Name: Robert Silverthorne | Role: Sound Department
Name: Robert Sullivan | Role: Sound Department
Name: Rufus Tureen | Role: Sound Department
Name: Max Demetrio | Role: Sound Department

[Visual Effects]
Name: Brian Scott Benson | Role: Visual Effects
Name: Tony Lee | Role: Visual Effects
Name: Melinda Shopsin | Role: Visual Effects
Name: Tamara Shopsin | Role: Visual Effects

[Camera and Electrical Department]
Name: António Abreu | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Dodge Billingsley | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Plinio Cabrera | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Sam Cullman | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Hayder Mousa Daffar | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Joe di Gennaro | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Tom Donatelli | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Ed Dooley | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Douglass Gibran | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Dan Hersey | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Will Knox | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Joe Lawler | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Christopher Li | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Rodney Mitchell | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Krista Pastecchi | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Yana Rafailova | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: David Sperling | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Rick Weber | Role: Camera and Electrical Department
Name: Foster Wiley | Role: Camera and Electrical Department

[animation department]
Name: Benjamin Murray | Role: Animation Department

[Editorial Department]
Name: Joseph Borges | Role: Editorial Department
Name: Benjamin Murray | Role: Editorial Department

[Music Department]
Name: Elena Barere | Role: Music Department
Name: Lori Cheatle | Role: Music Department
Name: Loire Cotler | Role: Music Department
Name: Jonathan Dinklage | Role: Music Department
Name: Susan Jacobs | Role: Music Department
Name: Wolfram Koessel | Role: Music Department
Name: Joe Mendoza | Role: Music Department
Name: Robert Miller | Role: Music Department
Name: Vera Pandolfo | Role: Music Department
Name: Seth Rothschild | Role: Music Department
Name: David Weiss | Role: Music Department
Name: Valerie Wilson | Role: Music Department

[Production Department]
Name: Amanda Brown | Role: Production Department
Name: Adnan Malik | Role: Production Department
Name: Lora Stanbridge | Role: Production Department

[Additional Crew]
Name: Mohammad Al-Ami | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Mahmoud Baghdady | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Claudia Becker | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Joe Beirne | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Rob Berkey | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Nora Colie | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Cletus Dalglish-Schommer | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Erin Heidenreich | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Troy Kingsbury | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Hermes Laoudas | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Pearl Lieberman | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Alessandra Meyer | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Mary-Jane Mitchell | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Ibrahim Naboulsi | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Dana O'Keefe | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Scot Olive | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Peter Schmidt-Nowara | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Melinda Shopsin | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Mark Steele | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Robert Stein | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Tim Taylor | Role: Additional Crew
Name: Tim Wells | Role: Additional Crew
Name: May Ying Welsh | Role: Additional Crew

[Thanks]
Name: Edward Eglin | Role: Thanks
Name: Jeremy Rabb | Role: Thanks

Trailers

Why We Fight | Type: Trailer | IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1660748057/ | Playback: https://imdb-video.media-imdb.com/vi1660748057/1434659607842-pgv4ql-1564174679084.mp4?Expires=1788437469&Signature=WiVSCnpwqDmDZB7s6laDAWTvvxpifwVuQzBtGUSMP7Xu6ML3B9E6~iDNhasJ9iKGVv53TvmtNo2McdO4ZprAtCqEIho4X4KwSGjk6kxXlAi-3nx0AWgMdG-ERPeQi1yd7rdozC3gpDazJrZL536e14AhXdQd2czn-669YWaYaohXnDFIMu6gT9pgDGVIrMIwJTwsd80fY~CW09GTYxjpg7HWGBHDcifIHCHWdDgrOUHVRMt7riBcTMDycNyDa3gPw~7Xdclr~9~yJp6ZNRk-iTzgRYRK7ydmnEe6pyetp62yVhWOzL8jrLnprmA9NE5~zS1~4v25aIghZ82uSNNOgQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIFLZBVQZ24NQH3KA

Release Schedule

United States: January 2005 (Sundance Film Festival)
United Kingdom: March 23, 2005 (TV premiere)
Czech Republic: April 5, 2005 (Febio Film Festival)
Norway: April 12, 2005 (TV premiere)
Sweden: July 31, 2005 (TV premiere)
Japan: September 4, 2005 (TV premiere)
Finland: September 7, 2005 (TV premiere)
Canada: September 13, 2005 (Toronto International Film Festival)
United States: January 20, 2006 (limited)
Germany: January 31, 2006 (TV premiere)
France: January 31, 2006 (TV premiere)
Croatia: February 2006 (ZagrebDox)
Canada: February 17, 2006 (limited)
United Kingdom: February 18, 2006 (Keswick Film Festival)
Argentina: October 17, 2006 (DVD premiere)
United Kingdom: March 25, 2007 (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

Awards

Box Office