The Fog Of War: Eleven Lessons From The Life Of Robert Mcnamara

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, a documentary by Errol Morris, chronicles the life of Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Through his many years of experience he created lessons on war that he felt needed to be shared. In the documentary he reflects on his life and his involvement in key moments in American history such as his involvement in World War II, as Secretary of Defense during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his time as Secretary of Defense under Johnson and the Vietnam War. These lessons reflect on what he believes to be the true nature of war. He describes the fog of war politicians, like the Secretary of Defense, face in wartime politics. McNamara says, “What

In this lesson he reflects on his time serving in World War II. He was one of the conductors of a study for the Air Force that was trying to understand why so many of the pilots were aborting their missions. 20% of the pilots aborted their missions with reasons that poorly covered their true motivation, fear of death. Curtis LeMay, a colonel in the Air Force threatened the pilots with being court-marshaled if they failed to complete their missions and the pilots stopped aborting. This lesson falls under the international relations theory of realism. LeMay used hard power, the threat of being court-marshaled, as a means to keep the pilots in line. Yet this lesson also imposes that the completion of the missions, shows of force against Germany, were done in the name of security for the United

In lesson seven called “Belief and seeing are often wrong” McNamara explains how the supposed attacks on the Maddox and Turner Joy on August 4th 1964 created a much larger issue for the United States than attacked ships. He explains that the confusion of the attacks off the shores of Vietnam and the uncertainty of why they were attacked led to the decision to attack Northern Vietnam forces. McNamara said of the event, “We were wrong, but we had in our minds a mindset that led to that action. And it carried such heavy costs. We see incorrectly or we see only half of the story at times.” The international relations theory that best supports this lesson is constructivism. The United States’ belief in an attack that did not actually happen led to a rebuttal that created even more issues for the United States. The decisions made were based on what the United States saw and reacted too. Their perspective was an attack from Northern Vietnamese forces and a counterattack was needed. Their reaction was based on