"Fog of War" is a documentary featuring Robert McNamara, and chronicles his experiences as Secretary of Defense of the Vietnam war, experiences with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and as president of Ford Motor Company. The documentary is composed of 11 lessons to apply in times of war or when considering entering a war, but they could also be applied to everyday life. I believe McNamara's reasoning for being a part of this documentary is two-fold: 1) He truly believes war to be an increasingly dangerous proposition, and that we are at a point in time where we need to consider how war can easily lead into a nuclear conflict; and 2) as a sort of apology for his former decisions and actions--an attempt to absolve himself of his sins at an old age.
Throughout the documentary there are are several parts in which there seem to be a shift in the lessons. Lessons 1-3, "Empathize with your enemy," "Rationality will not save us," and "There is something beyond one's self" seem to be everyday rationalizations and realities which can be applied throughout one's life. The next 3-4 lessons seem to deal with war itself, focusing on the numerics and statistics and efficiency of that need to be taken into account before and during an engagement of war. The final 4-5 lessons seem to try to rationalize the war and serve more or less as McNamara's apology for his acts as Secretary of Defense. In all, these three shifts serve as an interesting perspective into not just the Vietnam War, but war in and of itself from Robert McNamara, one of the most hated men in America at the time (and even to this day).
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