Last night I saw a film somewhat related to Vietnam, The Fog of War, about former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. It was directed by Errol Morris, director of the excellent documentary about a crime, The Thin Blue Line. It is a fascinating portrayal of an extraordinary man. The film is framed in reference to McNamara’s 10 Lessons learned throughout his life as a soldier in WWII, working at Ford Motor Company, as Secretary of Defense, and as President of the World Bank. McNamara comes across as extremely lucid and intelligent, even at 85. He seems more reflective about things he has done in his past, but he wouldn’t comment directly on his role-individually, as it related to the avoidable deaths that accumulated during the Vietnam War. However, he feels that human lives need to be taken into consideration more fully when considering war. He seems most proud of the fact that while in office they were able to avoid nuclear war with Cuba, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He seems to regret the amount of destruction we leveled on Japan during WWII. Not just the atomic bombs, he points out that we destroyed 50%-90% of 37 Japanese cities with fire bombing before dropping the two nuclear warheads. He says that LeMay, the architect of the firebombing, has said that had they lost, they would have been tried as war criminals. The questioning and analysis that made him an effective soldier was then put to use in capitalism as he turned Ford Motor Company around with an emphasis not only on stock holders, but also employees and the general public as he introduced fuel efficient cars and seat belts. It was from this point that he was asked by Kennedy to join his cabinet. Once Kennedy was assassinated he bowed under to the pressure from Johnson to escalate the war in Vietnam. It seems that experience inspired him to suggest that the US shouldn’t resort to war unless it is to defend one of the 50 states. Perhaps Bush could use someone like McNamara on his cabinet. A fascinating, thought provoking documentary about an extraordinary man who helped shape the modern world-for better or worse.
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