I just finished watching"The Fog of War." What a remarkable movie. I just can't get over McNamara's candor. It's hard to believe that the guy everyone thinks of as such a warmonger really appears to have been opposed to war. He came across as extremely articulate and insightful and deep. I also learned a lot—there were many gaps in my twentieth-century history knowledge that were filled just in these 100 minutes.
I ended up feeling sad because I am certain that the kinds of conversations and debates that went on at the Pentagon and the White House in the sixties couldn't possibly be going on today. There's just no way that anyone in Washington is thinking about anything other than spin nowadays. McNamara made no bones about it: People make mistakes. The key is to admit them, learn from them, and not make them again. Our president refuses to acknowledge a single mistake; he said so during one of the presidential debates. Of all the arrogance!
I didn't realize it was out on video. Thanks for bringing it up because I wanted to see it.
Posted by: jett | December 21, 2004 at 12:52 AM
I cried when I saw The Fog of War (PBS? documentary channel?) Made me think of all the very hurt vets I've had in my life.
Posted by: ehBeth | December 21, 2004 at 04:08 PM
That's McNamara all over.
McNamara made plenty of bones about being wrong, while Vietnam was raging. And McNamara was the last guy to admit a mistake until Vietnam got out of hand.
When McNamara was still in the government, that was a guy who couldn't admit he made a mistake about anything.
I'm glad he can now. That's nice. It would have been better if he could have done it before 50,000 Americans were killed and over a million Vietnamese.
One of the things McNamara was always best at, even better than admitting people make mistakes, was convincing people that McNamara was right. Even when he was convincing them that he was right to be wrong.
McNamara sold the Vietnam war. And he guaranteed it was winnable. And he became very "opposed" to his war long after everyone knew it was a lost cause.
He hasn't learned a thing.
McNamara is not an example of good government. He's a cautionary tale. He is Donald Rumsfeld.
Posted by: ricky | December 23, 2004 at 04:15 AM