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As the grandson of two grandfathers who served in World War II, the nephew of a great uncle that did the same, and the son of a father who eventually became a Captain in the Air Force, I know what it means to be an American, and I slap myself if ever I take it for granted. Hearing stories of war and combat, I mentally concluded that war is something that shouldnt happen, but does because it must. And Im sorry, but anyone who thinks that war can just be stopped is being rather nave. Wars must be fought to achieve peace, and as long as there is evil in the world peace too must be sought. Thats the best way I can put it.
The documentary begins with footage of McNamara as Defense Secretary of the United States under John Kennedy, and then goes on to show an 85-year-old McNamara in front of a camera who commences in telling his view of his life and the accomplishments of his career. (This was a very well made film; that I'm not joking about.) I immediately began trying to find a label for this man whom I had heard of, but never had seen an elongated interview with him. It then cut to newspaper articles and magazines with McNamara on them. They rapidly flashed on the screen, just giving me enough time to read the centered words, all of which were opinions of the man. One of the words was egotistical, and that was the hammer that hit the nail directly on the head.
I used that adjective to describe him at the top of this review, and believe it to be the absolute truth. This man is so caught up in his own accomplishments, that he blames all his faults on someone else to save, well, his ego. I find that elder people are like interesting text books that bring humanization to the past. Such is the case, when my great uncle first told me war stories from the Second World War. He told me of a campaign in the Pacific that he was involved in as an infantry unit. He carried a .30 caliber machine gun, and was credited with killing some 40 Japanese soldiers in one stationary assault.
He told me that that was the hard part. The simple act of killing those people. Until that moment, I had never even thought about the toll taken on the lives of men who killed other men to win a war. Where the justification lies is in the fact that three men were about to take over the world: Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. All three were a different kind of evil. Evils that had been dealt with before in history, but evils that society was letting come to power again. Thus our nation was attacked and we entered the war.
This documentary is nothing but an attack on the Bush presidency, an administration that is passionately hated by left-wing liberals simply because Bushs decency is making their views look like B.S., which ultimately is what it actually is. One of the arguments that are being placed on this war in Iraq is that it is going to be another Vietnam. To that all I can say is that this is not Vietnam all over again. It is a global war on terrorism: an evil that must be dealt with. If anything, this war is better compared to World War II because we were attacked. Its as if everyone has forgotten about the attacks on our World Trade Center and our Pentagon. If you justify WWII, then you must consider people like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden to be just as evil as Adolf Hitler.
What McNamara fails to confront is the fact that Vietnam only became a lost cause when people stopped believing that it was a good cause. That is exactly what it was. We were trying to abolish tyranny, and even though it didnt happen, we cant forget the 58,000 American lives that were taken in those years of fighting.
The former secretary basically desecrated the graves of WWII dead. A veteran of that war himself, I as appalled to listen to him say that the bombing of Japan should have been considered a war crime. These were the bombing of cities like Tokyo that he took part in. I could care less if this guy was there, he doesnt know what hes talking about. I dont know if he heard, but the very people he was trying to defeat in those nights of bombing had attacked us at Pearl Harbor in 1941. What Im trying to say is that we were fighting a war people, and if their own government was willing to kill civilians as a war effort, then that is precisely what we were doing too. What hes saying without actually saying it is that World War II wasnt worth it. Well, Mr. McNamara, what about the 400,000 American deaths that resulted from that war? Were they worth it?
He kept saying, We killed--burnt alive--100,000 people in one night! Notice that he paused to say burnt alive because it sounds worse than killed. And that is exactly what the liberal side does: they always find the worst of what conservatives do and best of what they do. Meaning that no matter what liberals do, its not as bad as what the conservatives have. Such is the case with the impeachment of Bill Clinton. There are people out there who actually think this guy was a good president. What he did, regardless of his political agenda, ruined the reputation of the American President. Oh wait, Bush uttering the word damn on TV when he didnt know his microphone was on is sooooo much worse than having an affair in the White House. (Im being sarcastic, in case you didnt catch that.)
Our nation was founded by some of the bravest and cunning people in history. They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to make this country. The things said by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in this documentary are awful. I just cant believe a veteran would have these negative views of our world. I think Ronald Reagan who best put it when he said (paraphrasing), I can do what I do because of my strong faith in God, and because of my faith in men. McNamara has no faith in men. And I dont like to think that the sacred honors of our fore fathers were pledged to let men like this say what he said about America. * (based on filmmaking alone: *** )