For at befri sig selv fra tre årtiers akkumulerede skyldfølelse og samtidig slå og forsvare sig selv, tilbyder McNamara den indre historie fra manden, der ledede Vietnamkrigen under Kennedy og Johnsons præsidentskaber (1961-8). Både hans rædsel for selve krigen og reaktionen fra antikrigsbevægelsen motiverede dette tidligere Harvard-geni og Ford Motor Company CEO til at sige fra. Men den negative reaktion på Vietnamkrigen, mere end selve krigen, skubbede McNamara til at lade outsiderne få et kig på elitens beslutningstagende verden.
McNamaras film og litterære erindringer, frygter jeg, kun kan øge den kynisme og foragt. Jeg undrer mig over, hvordan forældre til døde soldater eller civile, vietnamesere, amerikanere og irakere, føler, da det scenarie er fyldt med gentagelser, når de læser, at McNamara allerede i 1966 var blevet 'stadig mere skeptisk over for vores evne til at nå vores politiske mål i Vietnam gennem militær midler.' Ikke desto mindre, fortsætter han, 'det mindskede ikke mit engagement i udformningen af Vietnam-politikken'
Vietnam was ‘McNamara’s War’ as much as Iraq is Rumsfeld’s. But thanks to the movie, we know that McNamara has a strong emotional side – unlike Rummy, whose distorted haiku speech and irritable manner create the image of a thick-skinned executive.
McNamara sensed that his soul was at stake, but the glimmers of humane feelings that he allowed himself to acknowledge confronted a stronger, deeper commitment to servicing power, an ‘obligation’ that vitiated his ability to see right and wrong.
He also owed the President his business assessment: the Vietnam War was unprofitable. Ironically, McNamara used this formula to arrive at his moral judgment: unprofitable means wrong. The brilliant accountant and business visionary, however, could not see demarcate clear moral lines between his ‘logic of figures’ and life and death.
LeMay var efter hans egne ord en psykopatisk morder, en mand, der var ivrig efter at bruge atomvåben mod Cuba og Sovjetunionen i missilkrisen i 1962, en kommandant, der ikke tøvede med at risikere sine egne piloters liv under Anden Verdenskrig ved at lade dem flyve i lavere højder og dermed udsætte sig selv for antifly- og jagerangreb for at øge deres nøjagtighed.
McNamara presents himself as a moral man. Among his axioms of faith was the assumption that the United States undertook overseas actions only for noble purposes. Through this obfuscating lens, he could not – and cannot — see himself as an imperialist. Since he served the elected president of a democracy, how could he possibly make imperial policies?
Jeg er glad for, at han skrev bogen og optrådte i filmen. Hans personlige vidnesbyrd dramatiserer fortidens bedrag og burde gøre dem i den nuværende generation meget skeptiske over for alle Bushs påstande om Irak.
Faktisk fastholder han stadig, at "USA kæmpede i Vietnam i otte år af, hvad det mente var gode og ærlige grunde ... for at beskytte vores sikkerhed, forhindre spredning af totalitær kommunisme og fremme individuel frihed og politisk demokrati."
McNamara might write a guide book on the morality of power – an oxymoron? He simply blurred distinctions between intentions and poor war strategy. As Defense Secretary for seven years he simply ignored the incongruities between Washington’s trite expression of noble goals and the bestiality in Vietnam ‘required’ to achieve them. He pressed on, as he admits ‘ravaging a beautiful country and sending young Americans to their death year after year, because they [the war planners] had no other plan.’
Ja, mangel på mod! Top regeringsembedsmænd anvender en logik for intervention, der isolerer dem, placerer en mur mellem spørgsmål, de bør stille og besvare, før de bestiller bombemissioner mod byer i Vietnam eller Irak.
In his book, McNamara strives for grace, citing T.S. Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets’: ‘And last the rending pain of reenactment/ Of all that you have done and been; the shame/ Of motives late revealed, and the awareness/ Of things ill done and done to others’ harm/ Which once you took for exercise of virtue.’
Landaus nye film, SYRIA: BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE er tilgængelig via Cinema Guild 1-800-723-5522. Hans nyeste bog er THE PRE-EMPTIVE IMPIRE: A GUIDE TO BUSH' KINGDOM. Han underviser på Cal Poly Pomona University og er stipendiat ved instituttet for politiske studier. Hans essays vises på spansk på www.rprogreso.com