[lbo-talk] fog of war

[JT Ramsay]

J. Johanning wrote:
>Whether the director intended it or not, he seems to have set up the whole 
>film to portray McNamara as a moderate -- Le May is referred to several 
>times as a personification of the extreme hawk faction McNamara was 
>constantly (according to him) battling against. He says, of his role as 
>Vietnam War DefSec, that he was resisting pressures that would have led to 
>another world war or even a nuclear war.

this hits the spot. lemay was portrayed as such an evil hawk that it seemed 
like a dr. jekyll/mr. hyde personality quirk. sure we see lemay and we see 
mcnamara...but never together...

moment on point: mcnamara says openly that one should never answer the 
question asked. instead, answer the question you would have liked to have 
been asked. of course, he uses this thinking to cop to squirming under 
pressures that might've pushed him over the edge, thus maintaining his 
"moderate" image. the interviewer asks him straight out if he feels like 
he's damned if you do...and mcnamara says yes i'd rather be damned if i 
don't [comment any further about my role in vietnam].

the most telling stuff comes early when he talks about firebombing japan. he 
says if they'd lost they'd most certainly be treated as war criminals for 
their role in the firebombing. i was fascinated that he'd even admit such a 
thing.

and gee he's an old softy. he cries so much during the film it's ridiculous.

jt. r

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