Fog of War

The Fog of War: 11 lesson's of Robert McNamara
Genre: Documentary
The movie takes us back in history and gives us historical and political perspective on the involvement of the US in WWII, The Cuban missle crisis and Vietnam. McNamara's 11 lessons derived from reviewing past events and afterwards working on an alternate solution to see if War could have been avoided. In other words playing armchair quaterback. He also admits that Commanders make mistakes but he never remarks upon which one's he's made. I found this interesting because in the end because it brings home Lesson #11 You can't change human nature. We all feel the need to "understand" and know why so many soldiers and civilians perished in War but McNamara knows by admitting his mistakes would lead to greater questioning by the public.
The movie's clips from the different Wars were powerful and interesting. The dominoes falling in different direction were symbolic of the political strife during vietnam. The numbers falling and disappearing were a represetation of the number of lives lost. The close-up shots of McNamara during his recalling of the fire bombing of Japan were very dramtic and you could tell he was almost grief stricken. To see the actual wreckage and carnage from the fire bombing was very moving to me. I had no idea that so many civilians were killed prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This movie gives us a greater vantage point and takes the viewer back in time sucessfully
During the Cuban missle crisis most people were no yet old enough to remember just how close the US came to an all out exchange of nuclear weapons. The movie and McNamara make a point of letting the viewer know that there is no "curve for learning" in a Nuclear exchange. In WWII there was an opportunity to change tactics but if the US had gone to war over the warheads placed in Cuba there would be no chance to learn anything. Our country would have faced annihilation.
Lesson #7: Belief and seeing are both often wrong. If I remember the part of the movie correctly this Lesson McNamara highlights the start of the Vietnam War in 1964. North Vietnamese patrol boats fire on a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin triggering start of US bombing raids on North Vietnam. This event occured well before any of us were born. What made it real for me was the taped phone calls to and from Washington to the actual ships. I think at this point in history though the US was already commited to supporting the South with military support. I think McNamara didn't point this out and failed to mention that the first attack was possibly in responce to US covert attacks in the North.
The movie is excellent in retelling historical events. I believe McNamara is sincere in his almost apologizing rhetoric. I don't believe his involvement in all the affairs he presented was truelly representative. I feel things were witheld that he deemed controversial. I went away with more questions, but maybe that was the intention of the movie.