Robert McNamara, RIP

[bromius]

So, Robert McNamara has died. Although he served as Secretary of Defense long before my time, he was so maligned by so many people that I was surprised to find myself feeling sympathy for him after seeing Errol Morris' brilliant 2003 documentary The Fog of WarMorris' point, of course, was to contrast the early days of Vietnam with the early days of

Comments

[dominika_kretek]

The main thing I took away from that doco was that as misguided and short-sighted as McNamara was, he and people like him were all that stood in between us and the real crazies like LeMay. If anything, I thought Morris was saying that now the crazies were in charge, and god help us.

[bromius]

You're absolutely right--my memory of it is a tad hazy. I haven't seen the movie since it was in theaters even though I have the DVD sitting on a shelf at home.

Of course, Morris could make that point, but McNamara had too strong a sense of decorum to level any criticisms, as the film's final section so powerfully showed.

[dominika_kretek]

Yup. :) That's why we keep him around. Also the way McNamara is totally sympathetic and totally indefensible.