Errol Morris Fascinating and Grim Documentary The Fog of War - Essay Example

There are several pointers to this theme in the documentary which is a combination of a part-filmed biography of McNamara, and part colloquy about philosophical questions concerning war (Turan).

The first pointer involves the role of the U.S. in the Vietnam War. McNamara was one of the principal U.S. leaders that orchestrated the war which resulted in the deaths of 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans. In the documentary, 85-year-old McNamara (playing himself), speaks about the Congressional resolution that gave credence and legality to the Vietnam War. It was later learned that the U.S Congress, Kennedy, and McNamara himself all wrongly interpreted the torpedo incident in the Gulf of Tonkin, which never exaggeratedly took place it was reported (Petrakis).

The second pointer to the film’s theme involves the firebombing of 67 Japanese cities by the U.S. in 1945 that killed nearly 1 million Japanese (Turan), including a single event in which about 100,000 Japanese were scorched to death in Tokyo. Colonel Curtis Le May, who directed the military operations, along with McNamara (his assistant at that time), were both convinced that the firebombing would bring about a speedy end to World War II. McNamara supports the decision of LeMay and himself that led to so many horrific Japanese deaths by exemplifying it to one of the 11 lessons he learned in life, namely, “To Do Good, You May Have to Engage in Evil” (Petrakis). 

The last pointer to the documentary’s theme involves the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Colonel Curtis LeMay and McNamara actively featured in it. This time, however, the two leaders managed to pull back inches from the brink of what would have been an outright nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Leaders of both superpowers were certain of their interpretations of the crisis that did not deserve such certitude, and if it were not for Nikita Khrushev’s backing down and withdrawing Soviet missiles from Cuba, and Kennedy’s decision to take the advice of Tommy Thompson who had an acute insight into Khrushev’s thought patterns, the Cuban missile crisis would have escalated into the world’s first nuclear war. In the documentary, McNamara concludes his relation to this story by connecting it to another lesson he learned in life, namely, “Empathize with your Enemy” (Petrakis).

“The Fog of War” does a good job of unraveling the complexities of Robert S. (it seems appropriate that his middle name is ‘Strange’) McNamara. He does his best to portray himself as a figure floating around the parameters of apology and asking forgiveness for his political sins, trying to belittle his role in events before history documents that he was a large part of those events (Petrakis). On his part, Errol Morris succeeds in presenting McNamara and many others mentioned in the film as leaders who are sometimes so certain of their actions that do not deserve such certitude.

Just as the U.S government intensified the Vietnam War and prevailed on Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution based on inconclusive allegations, President Bush convinced Congress to authorize a U.S dominated multinational military invasion of Iraq based on allegations that Saddam Hussein had developed weapons of mass destruction and was preparing to use them – allegations that were later proved to be false. President Bush is therefore looked upon, from our perspective, as a leader who is sometimes so certain of his actions that do not deserve such certitude. The other event involves Iran. The U.S. has presently locked horns with that country, accusing it of developing nuclear weapons. Backed by the U.N., the IAEA, and some West European nations, the U.S. is exerting increasing diplomatic pressure and U.N.-sponsored sanctions against Iran while making it clear that the threat of military strikes against that country cannot be ruled out. Time will soon tell whether he got it right this time or whether President Bush has again committed the blunder of being so certain of his actions that do not deserve such certitude.   Read More