Went yesterday to see this documentary film about former U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Strange McNamara. The documentary begins with the dreadful moments the world had during the Cuban Missile Crisis and all the way from the beginning the viewers’ attention is stolen by the still clever and witty 85 year old McNamara telling his story.
I shall not go into deep analysis here as I should be working on two assignments, so I’ll just quickly recommend seeing this documentary. McNamara is probably best known from being SoD during the Vietnam War, which in contemporary press was often called the McNamara’s War, but this movie is not an apology. Rather, it’s an old man’s justified conclusions about his life, his accomplishments and his mistakes. The lessons he gives also fit well in the modern world and the modern wars. It might be worthwile for a certain George to see this film or read McNamara’s book (with James G. Blight: Wilson’s Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century) which partially inspired Errol Morris to film the documentary. Anyway, just see it and learn. Maybe you’ll end up spending the next day reading more about those issues, like I have…