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The Silent Vigil of Lewes will sponsor a free, public screening of the movie “Why We Fight,” at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 20, in the upstairs screening room of the Movies at Midway, Route 1 north of Rehoboth. The screening marks the beginning of the sixth year of the Iraq war.
“Why We Fight,” a film by Eugene Jerecki, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Looking at the American war machine, the movie weaves personal stories with commentaries by a who’s who of military and beltway insiders: John McCain, William Kristol, Chalmers Johnson, Gore Vidal, Richard Perle and others. “Why We Fight” offers a bipartisan inquiry into the workings of the military industrial complex and the rise of American military dominance in the world.
This movie was inspired by Dwight D. Eisenhower’s legendary farewell speech, in which he coined the phrase “military industrial complex.” Many will remember that the original version of “Why We Fight” was a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S. public to persuade them to support American intervention. “The original movie ‘Why We Fight’ was one of first examples of the government using public relations to convince Americans to become involved in a war outside our country,” said Patricia Kirby Gibler, vigil coordinator.
This new movie, of the same name, was produced as citizens of the United States are looking for ways to hold both the possibility of victory in Iraq, to reward us for our efforts, along with the reality of the utter tragedy there. The movie shows the inefficacy of our elected representatives to reflect our rising worries about becoming a country in a permanent state of war.
“I hope,” says Kirby Gibler, “we can watch this movie together - each of us concerned United States citizens - and wonder together about the human costs of this and every war.”
Since the war in Iraq began five years ago, almost 4,000 American soldiers have been killed. Almost 30,000 American soldiers have been wounded; half of these have not been able to return to combat. Over 90,000 Iraqi civilians have been named as casualties of the war. Many other Iraqi losses remain unknown and unnamed.
The Silent Vigil has been meeting every Sunday for three and half years on the corner of Savannah Road and Kings Highway in front of the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes. All are welcome to participate, from 1 to 1:45 p.m., for 45 minutes of silence to remember the human cost of war. For information, contact Kirby Gibler at 302-644-4041 or email her at akgraces@earthlink.net.
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