Posted: 01/19/2004

Fog of War

(2003)

by Hank Yuloff

The latest Errol Morris documentary is a timely take on politics.

I sat through a history lesson the other night. It was taught by Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense for the United States from 1960 through 1967. It was horrifying, enlightening, and in the end, a little sad.

Errol Morris (A Brief History of Time) directed this documentary, told in the first person by Secretary McNamara. It is intended to give us a history of a slice of the Cold War that brought us three times to the brink of nuclear war and gives 11 lessons that should be followed to keep us away from that position. The film is broken into a chapter for each of the 11 lessons:

1. Empathize with your enemy.
2. Rationality will not save us.
3. There’s something beyond one’s self.
4. Maximize efficiency.
5. Proportionality should be a guideline of war.
6. Get the data.
7. Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
10. Never say never.
11. You can’t change human nature.

During these lessons, McNamara describes each of them and how they connect to past United States foreign policies in World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis and how we got mired into Vietnam. From a historical point of view I was fascinated. This should be shown by each history teacher to high school students while using the accompanying study guide: http://www.choices.edu/fogofwar/ This was a splendid opportunity to hear a first hand account of how close we came to starting a nuclear war and how close the other side came to launching nuclear missiles at us.

There is a definite anti-war feeling to the movie, which at first glance is odd considering McNamara was in charge of many wartime activities for this country. This seems to be a way for him to make peace with himself and the world by speaking out against that most destructive of human activities—the destruction of ourselves. It also serves as a warning because there are so many variables in war that we can not foresee what could happen any time we engage in it. Military leaders make mistakes. Political leaders are backed into corners of their own making. And those corners and mistakes bring us ever closer to the use of those nuclear weapons that would destroy entire societies, not just military targets.

The disappointing part came in the last chapter and the epilogue. I kept expecting to hear a mea culpa from McNamara but only received an “I was just following orders” kind of ending. This was clearly on the mind of the audience as well. During the entire film, and especially at the end there were many patrons who spoke back to the screen, and not entirely in a positive way. There was, however an outburst of applause when McNamara tied the past mistakes we (the United States) have made to the current poor state of affairs we find ourselves in overseas in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Fog of War is well photographed, with good graphics and moves along at a quick enough pace that you will never be bored or feel lectured to. It is more like a conversation with an important United States statesman who was there.

Hank Yuloff is just now coming out of his “depressing movie” coma. Strong doses of Mel Brooks and Kevin Smith movies helped a lot.

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