TOW #29 Why We Fight part 2

     Why do we fight? For freedom? For justice? For equality? That's what we've always been told are the driving forces behind the wars we get into. However, is the idea of fighting moral wars a realistic one? Or is it simply propaganda? Though wars are often painted as idealistic fights, the real reasons behind them are often economic and political.
     In his farewell address from the presidency in 1961, President Eisenhower discusses the growing focus on the military in the United States. While he stress the importance of having a large military ready for the defense of America, he also warned against the military-industrial complex. He said "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." He recognized that the growth of the military and it industry was becoming so large that the need for war and subsequently the placement of power of who could and would support and declare it would become skewed. Years later, the evidence of this military-industrial complex would become very evident. Large cooperations responsible for the production of weapons drive the economy and employ millions of people. Thus the desire for war increases in order to allow these cooperations to thrive and the reasons for war are less moral and more economic.
    Besides economic reasons, there are various political reasons that factor into war. Though the US gave up their imperialistic goals decades ago, often the government still desires for control in certain spheres of the world. This is especially true in oil rich regions, like the Middle East. Some people speculate that a main force behind going into wars in the Middle East was oil. Especially after the scary oil embargo of Nixon's era, the last thing oil-dependent US wants is to be cut off from its oil. This is why the US wanted to set up military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, to keep a presence there even after the wars were over. While no politician would want to admit that oil was a main reason for going into these wars and putting many lives at risk, it is very plausible that it was.
     Do we fight for the right reasons, or the wrong reasons? It is a very tricky question, on that we would hope to answer confidently with the former. However this is not always the case, and many reasons can drive motivation for war.