Finally, in 1993, after the Cold War ended, he undertook to write his memoirs because some of the lessons of Vietnam were applicable to the post-Cold War period "odd as though it may seem."
"In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam" appeared in 1995. McNamara disclosed that by 1967 he had deep misgivings about Vietnam — by then he had lost faith in America's capacity to prevail over a guerrilla insurgency that had driven the French from the same jungled countryside.
Despite those doubts, he had continued to express public confidence that the application of enough American firepower would cause the Communists to make peace. In that period, the number of U.S. casualties — dead, missing and wounded — went from 7,466 to over 100,000.
Too little, too late. But of course, it was those filthy hippies who screwed that glorious war adventure all up.
A.
butbutbut mccant and the right says we COULDA won.
Posted by: pansypoo | July 06, 2009 at 11:02
The documentary Fog of War by Errol Morris featuring almost nothing but interviews with McNamara is excellent. It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it, you can see how McNamara thought very late in life. He was a bit like Greenspan, beginning to grasp that his ideology didn't explain the world but still clinging to it.
McNamara was the embodiement of 'The Best and the Brightest', something I'm sure will come up in the commentary today. Of course, they will use 'Best and Brightest' as an unironic compliment and that damn sure wasn't how it was meant.
Posted by: joejoejoe | July 06, 2009 at 11:22
It will be hard to miss this one. Responsible for so much damage. He tried to make up for it later, but... I despised him for a long time.
Posted by: donna | July 06, 2009 at 11:33
I'd like to think that whether he is in heaven or hell, he has to personally apologize to every dead American and Vietnamese person there with him. That ought to take a big chunk out of the next millenneum.
Posted by: Sandman | July 06, 2009 at 12:20
The world is a little less evil tonight.
Posted by: Henry Holland | July 06, 2009 at 21:13
Despite having doubts, he professed that we could win an invasion of a small country by pouring in more firepower.
Does this seem familiar in recent history also ? Think. Think. Think.....
Posted by: MapleStreet | July 06, 2009 at 22:10
Dresden fire bombing planned by McNamara.
Tokyo and a hundred innocent towns in Japan fire bombed under McNamara planning.
Hiroshima bombed under his personal control.
Nagasaki bombed under his personal control.
Personally chose Westmoreland (more kills means we win even if we wiped out villages of 100 and recovered one broken shotgun) to command in Vietnam.
Die Kissinger, die, the devil needs you to baste McNamara as he toasts in napalm and white phosphorus.
Number 5 war criminal in 20th century for murdering unarmed innocents. Stalin, Hitler, Chiang Kaishek, Mao, McNamara, then Pol Pot. I am sure that he was deeply troubled in his declining years for not being number one. All but Hitler died happily in bed of old age. Human race? Cheney is a choirboy compared to this super evil semihuman thug.
Posted by: evil is evil | July 07, 2009 at 14:25