The Fog Of War Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)September 15th, 2003
"The Fog of War"
Robert Strange McNamara had a long and colorful series of careers during his life, ranging from being one of the best and brightest in military intelligence during WWII through helming the Defense Department during the height of the Cold War and Vietnam Conflict to a long tenure as the head of the World Bank. Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris ("The Thin Blue Line") has the man himself tell us his story, particularly as Defense Secretary under Kennedy and Johnson, in a series of 11 lessons that teach us about "The Fog of War."
McNamara, from the start of his long careers in both public and private service, was always considered by those around him as "an IBM machine with legs." He graduated in the top of his class at Berkeley and went on to his graduate studies, with top honors, at the Harvard Business School. During World War 2 he provided analysis in formulating the most efficient way to devastate Japan prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki under Curtis LeMay. After the war and prior to his stint under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations he joined Ford Motors and implemented many safety ideas that would later be included in all cars, such as safety belts. He even spent 5 weeks as president of Ford before resigning.
Robert McNamara rose to international prominence when Jack Kennedy offered him the job of Secretary of Defense. In that role he weathered such important incidents in America's history as the Bay of Pigs, the near nuclear war of the Cuban Missile Crisis and orchestrated America's involvement and, under Lyndon Johnson, escalation of the war in Vietnam. Documentary maker Morris is fortunate to have the narrative of this history by 85-year old McNamara as he lucidly and accurately recalls the earth-shattering events such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - the decision to institutionalize and escalate the war in Vietnam that may well have been based on false or erroneous reports of North Vietnamese aggression.
The lessons that Robert McNamara bestows upon us benefit from many years of hindsight that should, but will likely not, be heeded by the leaders of the world today. For instance, Lesson #8: Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning - could be applied to the recent overzealous decision to eliminate the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. All of the lessons provided make sense and should be the gospel of those people who control our very lives with their often-rash decisions.
McNamara unassumingly tells us all of the frequently sordid details of America's history during his time as Secretary of Defense. He is a natural in front of the camera and his narration of the many events he was personally involved in give a telling perspective of the time. The man's grasp of politics and sociology provides a wealth of information that, while not something I believe totally, gives at least a version of the truth through Robert Strange's eye.
Errol Morris also provides an episodic history of the US as he, in conjunction with his subject's life, tells of both great and personal events, from the firebombing of Japan's cities (and using the equivalent-size American cities for destruction comparison - Lesson #1: Empathize with your enemy), to McNamara and his wife's battle with polio and his award of the Medal of Freedom - the highest honor that the United States can bestow upon a civilian.
Extensive footage, photos and taped conversations between McNamara and presidents Kennedy and Johnson provide a perspective as to why events during the 60's played out the way they did. There is also footage and photos of such notables as Fidel Castro, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Curtis LeMay. This documentary also shows the toll on the commander in chief as Johnson makes one decision after another to try to keep the war from escalating but is helpless to do so. In the span of a few short years you see the president age decades as events envelope him and his government. McNamara also brings to light a subject that was also documented in the enthralling indictment, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger." The former Secretary of Defense tells about how Kissinger sabotaged Johnson's peace efforts only to end the war, five years later, with virtually the same terms. More than half of the Vietnam War's deaths took place during that period.
Morris only gives us one, biased viewpoint in his document of American history but it is a succinct, clearly told memoir by a remarkable man who was, good or bad, instrumental in shaping US world policy. Lesson #9: In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil - may well be McNamara's excuse for executing a war that, by his own admission, could not be won.
McNamara explains that war is too complex a thing for the mind of man to understand and, maybe if his lessons learned are applied, we may not have to experience "The Fog of War" again. I give it a B+.
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