CURIOSITATIS CAPTIVUS thesauri sapientiae et quisquiliae

The Fog of War – Lesson #11: You can’t change human nature

McNamara explains the fog of war:

What "the fog of war" means is: war is so complex it's beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all the variables. Our judgment, our understanding, are not adequate. And we kill people unnecessarily. Wilson said: "We won the war to end all wars." I'm not so naive or simplistic to believe we can eliminate war. We're not going to change human nature anytime soon. It isn't that we aren't rational. We are rational. But reason has limits.

McNamara, choking on emotion, shares the following in the last scene of the film:

There's a quote from T.S. Eliot that I just love:

We shall not cease from exploring
And at the end of our exploration
We will return to where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Now that's in a sense where I'm beginning to be.

The Fog of War – Lesson #10: Never say never

The film displays a clip of McNamara fielding questions from a reporter about the apparent "stalemate" reached in Vietnam at this point in his career as Secretary of Defence.  McNamara quickly contradicts the reporter by alluding to remarks made (then) recently by General Westmoreland which extolled the progress made by the military operations to date.  McNamara shares that he learned to never say never.  He also learned to never answer the question asked, but to answer the question you wish had been asked.

The Fog of War – Lesson #9: In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil

McNamara ponders:

"How much evil must we do in order to do good? We have certain ideals, certain responsibilities. Recognize that at times you will have to engage in evil, but minimize it."

McNamara recounts having read that General Sherman, during the Civil War, rebuffed the Mayor of Atlanta's plea to spare the city from burning by saying " War is cruel. War is cruelty."

" That was the way LeMay felt. He was trying to save the country. He was trying to save our nation. And in the process, he was prepared to do whatever killing was necessary. It's a very, very difficult position for sensitive human beings to be in."

The Fog of War – Lesson #8: Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning

McNamara, himself, provided the perfect synopsis of this lesson (emphasis added):

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 that economic, political, and military power unilaterally. If we had followed 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'd better reexamine our reasoning.