Analysis of the Fog of War: Eleven Lessons by Robert S. Mcnamara

-Quote from McNamara “LeMay and I were behaving as war criminals”. (The Fog of War 42 minutes)

McNamara Lesson eight: Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning. “What make sense omissions? Have we have a record of omissions, we are the stronger ace in the world.” In these statements, he talks about how The President and all the people who was closed to the president influence him on his decision to go to war.

Memories are what make us who we are and storytelling is how we seek to share who we are with others. This has long been the tradition of mankind, passing on our experiences and lessons to others as a means to not only enlighten and endow our listeners with what we have learned about life, but also how those lessons have served to shaped who we are. When sharing our stories and memories, we are able to better resonate with our audience by connecting with them on an emotional level. Such is the manner in which the personal experiences of war are shared in the pieces The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara and The Things They Carried. Although McNamara and O’Brien’s experiences of war were vastly different, their personal recollections and the separate examinations of the manner in which they each experienced the war can serve to provide insight into the true nature of warfare. Both accounts prove that human memories are important in helping us to understand our own histories and that personal experiences often color the manner and method in which that history is told, whether our role is as a decision maker or the one being affected by the decisions of others. The depiction of the memory process for each piece will be examined in order to better understand each figure’s recollection of historical events in regards to their role, where McNamara served as one of the “planners” and O’Brien’s characters as the “participants.”

Men in leadership positions have the enormous power to affect the lives of countless individuals around the world. When this power is abused, it can not only destroy lives but also have huge consequences that can affect several future generations. It is important that everyday citizens not only hold politicians accountable but also are knowledgeable about their actions. We must understand that like all humans government leaders are fallible and susceptible to the curse of greed and power. The documentaries The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara and The Trial of Henry Kissinger tells the tale of two men’s’ role in influencing politics in the Cold War and the repercussions of their decisions.

Nearly 160 million people were killed during the 20th century, and film maker Errol Morris wished to show the reason for this in documentary form. He interviewed former US secretary of Defense Arnold McNamara and the two discussed and analyzed some defining moments in US history, thus "The Fog of War" was made. The movie was set up in 11 lessons. However, I only found three to be completely reasonable.

The most important question I feel was asked in this film was the one that Peter Davis asked in one of his interviews to Walt Rostow the Aide to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. The question was "why did they need us there?" In other words why did we have to join into this war in Vietnam, what sort of gain was in it for our country getting into another time and economic consuming war. An answer was given through a short clip of Lyndon Johnson stating "the answer is simple there is none else who can do

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Saigon fell to the Communist on April 1975. Shortly after this event, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was asked to write a report by President Ford, so he could address the American public and press about the fall of Vietnam. This report was named “The Lessons of The Vietnam War.” One lesson from Kissinger is to be honest in reporting the events of the war. Another lesson from Kissinger is to provide the public with clear evidence of what really goes on.

The documentary is structured around the eleven lessons learned throughout WWII and the Vietnam War. Although they were obvious to McNamara after the fact, the lessons were not so clear in the midst of fog. Failing to apply the majority of the lessons learned set the United States up for a total disaster and one that would haunt the American people for years. One particular lesson that was not applied was: Empathize with your enemy. Vietnamese and American cultures and motives could not be more different; and at the time could not have been more misunderstood, by both sides. In the Vietnamese eyes’, the Americans were trying to pick up where the French

In the film Fog of War, former U.S Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara discusses and illustrates his observation of human nature of modern warfare base on his experience during the times of Cold War as well as the Vietnam War. Based on watching and looking at the film as historical movie reviewer, I feel that McNamara did a good job in telling the historical accuracies of the Cold War and Vietnam War. Additionally, I feel that McNamara perspective gives another telling in the way to look at these historical events in a different type of view which I believe the points made in the film came across the audience very well.

The Fog of War is a documentary that takes the form of a one-on-one conversation between filmmaker Errol Morris (who is behind the camera) and former business executive and U.S. secretary of defense Robert S. McNamara (who is on-camera). The documentary begins with McNamara stating that making mistakes once or twice is about learning but once the person loses the wisdom of learning from his mistake and repeats it more than three times it may destroy nations. McNamara was three years in the U.S. Army during World War II, seven years as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, and 13 years at the World Bank across the world. From what he has learned, his rule is to “try to learn, try to understand what happened. Develop the lessons and pass

The mystery War Against hanoi may be a nitty gritty examination of the secret warfare conveyed crazy Toward the focal insights org and the pentagon in north Vietnam, laos Furthermore cambodia Throughout the Vietnam War. The author, Richard Shultz, An teacher of global governmental issues at those fletcher class Also previous teacher during those us military Academy, might have been provided for phenomenal entry of the ordered files of the Pentagon 's investigations and perception aggregation (SOG), which guided the terrorist crusade Throughout those the vast majority powerful period of us intercession done Vietnam, from 1963 will 1972.

In his masterpiece ON WAR, the military strategist Carl Von Clausewitz talks about the fog and friction of war, and their impact on the battlefield. (Clausewitz, 119-121) Whereby everything in war might be thought of as being simple in nature, it [friction] turns seemingly simple things into trying, sometimes insurmountable tasks to such the degree that their accomplishment “…is inconceivable unless one has experienced war.” (Clausewitz, 119) The early morning of 27 May 1905 was little different. There was fog (in the literal sense of the weather) which the Russian fleet, having now been dubbed the Second Pacific Squadron, attempted to use to their advantage as they proceeded through the strait of Tsushima. Where they attempted to use it their

McNamara discusses about the Allied campaign against the Cuban Missile Crisis, Japan in WWII, and the most vital conflict in Vietnam. From Robert’s revelations, Morris illustrates eleven lessons, which he presents one at a time to develop the plot of this documentary and impose film

The nonfiction works created by Mark Atwood Lawrence called Assuming the Burden: Europe and American Commitment to the War in Vietnam is an American piece of literature published in 2005. Mark Atwood Lawrence is an Associate Professor of History, Director of Graduate Studies at the Clements Center for National Security at The University of Texas and Distinguished Fellow at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Lawrence has published two books, Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam and The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. Throughout his professional career Lawrence has been recognized with various awards. He was chosen for the Stanley Kaplan Visiting Professor of American Foreign Policy at William College (2011-2012), he was the recipient of the American Historical Association 's George Louis Beer Prize and Paul Birdsall Prize for Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam (2006) and the winner of the President 's Associates Teaching Excellence Award (2005). Lawrence is a nonfiction writer who’s intended audience is scholars, professionals and students, providing an alternative perspective on American and European involvement in the Vietnam war. The book is broken into a preface, introduction, six chapters and a conclusion.

and being involved in war related affairs. In The Fog of War, Robert McNamara depicts his time being the Secretary of Defense. Furthermore, he also states eleven lessons he learned throughout his time as the Secretary of Defense. These are lessons he recommends military leadership to follow, because one mistake can lead to a major crisis. Frontline follows the Bush wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting moments throughout the war. Has McNamara lessons pierced through the Middle East Wars? Rumsfeld demonstrated that these lessons were not learned.