The Fog of War is a documentary that serves as food for thought and in which former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara outlines the lessons government officials learned from their experiences in the Cuban Missile Crisis, WWII, and the Vietnam War. In his lessons, McNamara illuminates human nature, luck, and fatality. After watching the given documentary, the only question that one might think of is whether the United States of America is able to learn from its mistakes, or is the country doomed to repeat such costly mistakes again.
The Fog of War is a careful examination of the life and thoughts of possibly the most renowned U.S. Secretary of Defense in history. As a result, his documentary might be a must-see for both historians, scientists, and politicians. This artwork allows the viewers to grasp the factors that pertain to humans and their characters and their direct influence on US foreign policy and the history of the nation thereof. By providing the viewers with a rare insight into the thinking of a prominent member of the government, it is possible to learn about their wrongdoings and try to avert such negative mistakes in the future.
The documentary is unquestionably a masterpiece created by Errol Morris, and it is very likely his best work. The Fog of War transcends the discourse of history and war into a truly disturbing yet fascinating cinematic study,due to substantial historical material, Morris’ distinctive shadow reenactments, and declassified audio tapes from the White House. The documentary was based on hours of interview footage, and while McNamara despised the epilogue, Morris opted to keep it.
As a result, Morris encapsulates McNamara’s warfare ideology into eleven essential ideas over the duration of the whole documentary. The first lesson introduced in the film is the importance of emphasizing the enemy (Morris). McNamara recalls the Cuban Missile Crisis in order to demonstrate how near both governments were to nuclear war (Morris). The former secretary claims that while he and President Kennedy wished to avoid the start of the war, some members of the White House planned to invade Cuba.
This tension led the United States to receive two letters from the leader of the USSR, Gorbachev, one of which was a soft message and the other a hard message. Consequently, the ambassador to Moscow suggested that the president react to the soft message (Morris). The idea of this lesson is that the government should always strive to see the world from the perspective of its adversaries in order to grasp their perceptions and thoughts.
Another lesson covered by McNamara states that rational thinking by itself will not help protect the nation and the government. McNamara stresses that nuclear war was evaded by sheer luck—rational people like the president of the United States, the leader of the USSR, and Cuba were frighteningly close to annihilating themselves and their counterparts (Morris). The former secretary claims that the threat of nuclear war still stands today (Morris). This proves that sometimes the roots of many conflicts and wars can be fatalities caused by the mishaps of government officials (Morris). Even if one tries to stay civil and rational, everything can depend on the other party’s choices.
While illuminating simple teachings, McNamara also stated several facts that might not be so obvious. According to the former secretary, in order to accomplish something good, an individual will also have to do something evil, which stands out from the other lessons (Morris). McNamara confesses that he made horrid mistakes in Vietnam, but the man refuses to take accountability for his actions (Morris). Rather, he places the burden firmly on President Lyndon B. Johnson (Morris). As for the response of McNamara to the question regarding the ethically repugnant usage of Agent Orange during his tenure, it is unsatisfactory (Morris). In reality, the former secretary appears to be employing a politician’s tactic, which he subsequently discusses. As McNamara puts it, it is better to answer the question you wish you were asked rather than the question you were actually asked.
The final lesson provided by McNamara is that no matter how hard one tries, they cannot change human nature. According to McNamara, the fog of war relates to how complicated conflict is and the human mind’s incapacity to completely understand all of those aspects simultaneously (Morris). Former secretary assumes that human nature will make it hard to stop the conflict quickly,and that even though people tend to be logical, their rationality has limits (Morris). Thus, not everything depends on efforts to remain civil, and sometimes the desire to gain even more power wins, which often leads to wars.
Among the strengths of the given documentary are its credibility and unbiased approach. Morris is able to examine the documentary’s themes, notably those concerning Vietnam, without revealing his own strong views on the matter. The producer and director let the storyline speak for itself through interviews, archival recordings, and video material. This avoidance of explicit partiality is remarkable, as issues such as the Cold War, and especially Vietnam, tend to polarize the individuals who depict them. Instead of absolving or blaming McNamara and the governments in which the secretary worked, Morris enables the audience to form their own opinions regarding the events shown in the documentary.
One regrettable gap in The Fog of War is McNamara’s dearth of precise responses about his thoughts towards the Vietnam War, but this is not unexpected after watching the documentary. The former secretary’s statements may be controversial, as the man admits, and he is skilled at steering posed questions. Nonetheless, it could be quite interesting to learn why it took him almost two decades to stand up and speak openly about the wars and crises, their origins, and his involvement in them. Such topics could have illuminated the issues and their drastic consequences on a deeper level.
Hence, the director and producer, Morris, raises all the relevant questions, which makes The Fog of War such a captivating documentary. McNamara concludes by stating that people cannot change human nature and, while conflict may ultimately become less terrible, it will not go away easily and fast. Indeed, the ill reputation from the United States’ mistakes in World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the war in Vietnam still casts a gloomy shadow over the nation today. Nevertheless, while the documentary was filmed in 2003 and numerous malevolent consequences have been depicted and analyzed, many more conflicts and wars have taken place. This proves yet again,that human nature is unpredictable and, alas, not only the United States but other governments too, cannot learn from the mistakes of the past.
Work Cited
Morris, Errol, director. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. Sony Pictures Classics, 2003.