RIP Robert McNamara

Just look at Barack Obama

 

Anyone who hasn't seen Fog of War is seriously missing out. It is, quite simply, one of most provocative, informative, all-telling docs of all-time (or at least that I've seen).

Definitely worth a couple hours of time.

 

He will be remembered as a villain, but it sounds like Vietnam and even his involvement in WWII haunted him until the day he died and that he was truly sorry.

 

The director of Fog of War was on NPR this morning/afternoon and said something very similar to that. In fact, he said even before McNamara resigned, he'd changed his mind on Vietnam.

 

That's right Chris, just look at that foreign war Obama started that's cost 58,000 American lives.
Get a grip. Wait until the guy actually fubars before you rip him for it.

 

No news there. McNamara actually wrote an entire book that said he was wrong about Viet Nam. A book that is now required reading at The Army War College.

In the preface he makes it very clear:

"We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why."

Important to note - both democrat presidents.

 

I've always felt McNamara was a little unfairly painted as THE villain where Vietnam was concerned, when in fact there were plenty of others who were equally, if not more, to blame than he was.

And blame may even be too strong a word. We accelerated our involvement in Southeast Asia based on what was believed to be a sound strategy at the time, containing communism, a policy that began under Truman. Subsequent presidents and their advisors acted based on that strategy, using the tactics they believed would work.

They grossly underestimated the capabilities of the NVA and the Viet Cong, the tactics that worked in previous wars proved useless in SE Asia, and they weren't able to figure out a way to make things work. In time, the American public turned against the war effort, and all that was left to do was to figure a way out.

 

His biggest sin was not speaking up and/or resigning when, in 1966, he decided the war was unwinnable. He was too much of an organization man to take that step. But it might have saved thousands of lives.

 

With due respect, your blog's terrible.

Carry on.

 

I agree.....excellent documentary.

 

I doubt that it would have. Even if McNamara had resigned in '66 on principle, Johnson (and the military establishment) was not prepared at that point to even consider ending the war.

In fact, in '66 even the general public wasn't at the point where it would accept a defeat in SE Asia. It wasn't for about another 18 months before the reality really began to set in that we weren't going to win in Vietnam.

 

Perhaps the body count numbers in '66 '67, 68 had something to do with it

1956-1960 9
1961 16
1962 52
1963 118
1964 206
1965 1,863
1966 6,143
1967 11,153
1968 16,592
1969 11,616
1970 6,081
1971 2,357
1972 641
1973 168