Why We Fight

[Nelson Atwell]

This is a training film for WWII troops (First in a seven-part series -- you can watch the rest by googling "Why We Fight"). It discusses the events which led us to join WWII. The enemy in the Global War on Terrorism is different, but the reasons for going to war are very much the same. I wonder if an updated version would be accepted by the U.S. people today.



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Al-Qaeda's goals are to mobilize Muslims for a global jihad against the West; topple "apostate" regimes, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan; and create an Islamic government spanning the Muslim world based on an ultra-orthodox interpretation of Sunni Islam that would isolate the majority of Sunni Muslims as well as Shi'ite Muslims.



16 November 2006 | RAND Corp.

 

[Ben Schepper]

This is interesting. We had a whole chapter about this in my communication class back at school. Kinda cool to see it. The series was designed to motivate and inform troops before going into battle.



The series was used on troops in a study. They showed it to a test group and did not show it to a control. The troops that viewed the film were much more willing to go fight then those who had not viewed it.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Ben,



I agree it is a very good series. I am amazed how informative it is. I learned more about WWII in these episodes than I did in high school. The story isn't complete though since these were made during the war. I've been on the internet for over 10 years and this is the best thing I have found on it.



I find it weird to think my grandfather's sat in basic training or somewhere else and saw these same films 60 years ago. Here is the complete list, with the URLs in case someone else has a few hours to learn about WWII:



Part One - Prelude to War



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=2906105120123049935&hl=en



Part Two - The Nazis Strike



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5176171698484431895&hl=en



Part Three - Divide and Conquer



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=9055479363742452233&hl=en



Part Four - The Battle of Britain



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=9055479363742452233&hl=en



Part Five (1st Episode) - The Battle for Russia



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=9055479363742452233&hl=en



Part Five (2nd Episode) - The Battle for Russia



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=151798573345986466&hl=en



Part Six - The Battle of China



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=7068446902546257813&hl=en



Part Seven - War Comes to America



http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5927678019022100518&hl=en