The Fog of War...

We're watching Errol Morris' BRILLIANT documentary, The Fog of War, this afternoon:):)...

We've not finished it, yet:):)...

But the film, largely about the legacy of John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, is a BRILLIANT little history of warfare through the eyes of Robert McNamara...

And there was this powerful line that I thought summed up so much of what is important about the making and viewing of this film...from the Defense Secretary who most nearly faced a nuclear war in the 20th century...and who most narrowly faced it down...

"I think the human race needs to think more about killing...about conflict...is that what we want in this 21st Century?"

A powerful and important question...

And one of the most powerful statements of the film...

"What makes us omniscient?...Have we a record of omniscience?...We are the strongest nation in the world today...I do not believe that we should EVER apply economic, political, or military power unilaterally...if we had applied that rule in Vietnam, we wouldn't have been there...none of our allies supported us...not Japan...not Germany...not Britain or France...if we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause...we better reexamine our reasoning"...

Robert McNamara is the second important former American cabinet member to call into question his own foreign policy legacy to make that observation...

The other is Richard Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger...

An important film for everyone to see...

Ben