Review of The Fog of War (2003) by Loss Leader X — 29 May 2004

[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=black]Is there a just way to wage war?[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]Robert McNamara helped the US use its bombers more efficiently in World War II. And aided in the incineration of millions of Japanese. He staved off communism throughout the world, saved the United States from nuclear war and kept us out of direct confrontation with China. And helped kill 58,000 American soldiers, 3 million Vietnamese and didn't stop one day of communist rule anywhere.[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]The utilization of physical force to compel the actions of the enemy is the most dificult question we face as the last great military power.[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]In The Fog Of War, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara speaks with astounding candor about the way he answered the questions of war and how he views those answers now.[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]He recorded these interviews before the current Iraq war but his advice could not be more timely. He concludes:[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]We must put ourselves in the hearts of the enemy. If we had done that in Vietnam, we would have seen that these people were fighting a hundred year conflict against imperialist invaders and our conceptions about "communism" had nothing to do with their struggle. [/color][/font].

[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]The US is not omnicient. If nations who share our values generally disagree with us on a matter of war, we must carefully examine our thinking.[/color][/font].

[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]Leaders often find themselves on a path they don't like, don't understand and don't know how to get off of. LBJ fired McNamara for doubting the Vietnam war but abandoned the Presidency soon thereafter due to his own doubts.[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]Anyone who wants to understand the present should start with this film. It is one of the most important historical documents would-be warriors can study. We must demand that our leaders learn from the past. Or they will doom us to repeat it.[/color][/font].

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[font=Microsoft Sans Serif][color=#000000]US OUT OF [color=gray]VIETNAM[/color] IRAQ[/color][/font].