2009.07.06
McNamara's war
Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, the man who more than any other American became identified with the Vietnam War, died today. The New York Times has an excellent obit by Tim Weiner that is more than a retrospective on McNamara's life. It recalls an era that can provide context for this one. A taste:
"As early as April 1964, Senator Wayne Morse, Democrat of Oregon, called Vietnam 'McNamara’s War.' Mr. McNamara did not object. 'I am pleased to be identified with it,' he said, 'and do whatever I can to win it.'
"Half a million American soldiers went to war on his watch. More than 16,000 died; 42,000 more would fall in the seven years to come.
"The war became his personal nightmare. Nothing he did, none of the tools at his command — the power of American weapons, the forces of technology and logic or the strength of American soldiers — could stop the armies of North Vietnam. He concluded well before leaving the Pentagon that the war was futile, but he did not share that insight with the public until late in life."
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McNamara had many long years to wrestle with his demons. May God have mercy on his soul.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
-George Santayana-
Comment by Art Hill — July 6, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
McNamara was a principled man regardless of the war. I read where he would not even bill the government even for a rental car used on government business.
Comment by The Professor — July 6, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
It's hard to remember when we are not supposed to trash someone after they die.
Comment by Henry — July 7, 2009 @ 8:14 am
It was only McNamara's war to carry out. It was Presidents Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson's war to start and expand. It was lack of political will, not the ability of the armies of North Vietnam that caused the loss of the war. Revisionist history.
Comment by waynep. — July 7, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
If George W. Bush had been president at the time, he would have doubled down instead of retreating, and the outcome would have been very different. Look at his success in Iraq as an example of the will to win in the face of political detractors and a hostile press.
Comment by waynep. — July 7, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
"Doubled down"? No amount of "doubling down" would have changed the essential fact of the war...the North Vietnamese were more invested in winning than we were. Why? Because it was their country, not ours. The threat was posed to them, not us. Heck even the South Vietnamese didn't care as much as we did. What the Vietnam War showed us was that you can kill your enemy at a 3-1 rate and if they don't admit that they're losing...they're not.
And what happened when South Vietnam fell? Nothing. Japan remains happily non-communist. China, if anything, has gone capitalist. The domino theory was wrong. The fall of Saigon had no long term organic effects on the US....simply political ones. And now, they have MFN trading status.
Iraq and Vietnam do have a lot of things in common, and Santayana described it perfectly.
Comment by Kristen — July 7, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
Nothing happened after Viet Nam fell? Ever heard of Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge, and the Killing Fields of Cambodia where two million perished?
Comment by The Professor — July 7, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
Professor...not one bit of which served to feed the rampant spread of communism in Asia, much less "dominoing" anywhere else.
Comment by Kristen — July 8, 2009 @ 7:49 am
The United States Military never lost a battle in Vietnam. In my humble opinion we could have won the war anytime we wanted to with conventional forces. Our Military did their job well and we should all be proud of all veterans who served this country. We did not have the political courage to win. President Johnson said that his biggest fear was that we would accidentally bomb a Russian ship and start WWIII. The Communist had no such fears. The lesson I take from Vietnam is don't go to war period if we don't have the intestinal fortitude to do what it takes to win. I have often wondered in today's politically correct environment if we would have the courage to do what was necessary to win in Europe and the Pacific in World War II. How much of this was McNamara's fault I have no idea. I think the responsibility rest with President Johnson. On the other hand who knows how much of an impact Vietnam had on our ultimate victory over the USSR in the Cold War.
Comment by Michael A. Howdyshell — July 13, 2009 @ 9:53 pm