This important documentary, deliberately named by director Eugene Jarecki after Frank Capra's 1942-1945 series, examines "unwarranted influence ... by the military-industrial complex" -- a phrase coined by President Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address.
In a far more balanced inquiry than Michael Moore's 2004 Farenheit 9/11, Jarecki is all the more effective in exposing institutional excesses that go far beyond the partisan squabbling over "liberal" social programs. The film shows how the permanent defense establishment, unknown prior to WWII, consumes the lion's share of our national budget, and twists the political process to it's own ends.
The film doesn't spare Bill Clinton. During the public debate building up to the Kosovo War a frustrated Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, "What's the point of having this magnificent military if you're not gonna use it?" And that, I think is Jarecki's point.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If a country pours a disproportionate abundance of its wealth into armaments, sooner or later there's going to be a war.
