The Fog of War has received rave reviews on Amazon.com, but this review will not add to that long list. Fog is the word most appropriate for McNamara's discussion of Viet Nam. After two hours of hit and miss questions and answers, we are left with the conclusion that Viet Nam was a mistake and that McNamara was not responsible for it; that honor goes, according to McNamara, to Lyndon Johnson.

McNamara was a statistician/accountant who understood the numbers, but he was not a leader who could translate his knowledge into forceful action. Instead, it appears as if he supported Lyndon Johnson long after he realized that Viet Nam was going to be a war we could not win. Additionally, the information that he received about Viet Nam was sometimes innacurate and misleading. In hindsight he knows that it is unsafe to trust as fact reports given by subordinates. Without a historical perspective with which to judge the data he received, he arrived at false conclusions which resulted in the deaths of 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese.

Not only was McNamara ignorant of history, but he also understood little about ethics. He concludes that it is morally acceptable to do evil in order to arrive at a greater good. Machiavelli, in The Prince, would certainly agree with McNamara, but The Prince should not be a handbook for American foreign policy, even though recently it appears that Machiavelli's recommendations are alive and well in American government today. Torturing and abusing Vietnamese and Iraqi prisoners may provide useful information, but few would argue that the evil of torture is justified by what we learn from it. McNamara would have done well to study Kant's Categorical Imperative. If we approve of torture, or firebombing in the example given by McNamara, we must recommend that all other nations follow our example, at least according to Kant's Imperative.

My guess is that McNamara is a much smarter man than appears to be the case in The Fog of War. Unfortuntely, the director made McNamara appear to be often confused about the facts which were his stock in trade. He is an old man reminiscing about his life in public service and his memory is conveniently selective and self-serving.

Even so, I can recommend this film with the reservations noted for this reason. No viewer will ever think again that our safety and well being as a nation depend on rationality. McNamara prided himself on being a logical man of reason and often he was. That did not stop us, according to his own testimony, of coming an eyeblink away from the apocalyse during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Luck was on our side then. After watching The Fog of War many viewers will ask: When will our luck run out? This is a question well worth asking. Hopefully some will answer that we must replace evil intentions and actions toward other countries with moral behavior that stands as an example for the world to follow. This imperative puts us on the right if not always the winning side.

In his own words Robert Strange McNamara tells of his early life and his career, notably his service as Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Through his narrative, viewers obtain a unique retrospective on critical international events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the bombing of Japan and the Vietnam War.

McNamara sticks to the history. His personality is revealed by the way he speaks about events he found moving, but he dodges the tough personal questions, such as those about his family, his responsibility and his sense of guilt.

Clearly a reflective man, the lessons he provides are worthy of consideration by all, not just government leaders. In seeing some of the same mistakes made in current foreign relations as those McNamara recounts, viewers recognize the cycle of history, and human falliability.

For his award-winning documentary, "The Fog of War" - a study of the moral complexities of war and those who wage it - Errol Morris has found the perfect subject in Robert S. McNamara, the man who served as Secretary of Defense in the early days of the Vietnam War. McNamara is astute, articulate, lively and thoughtful, and as a wizened man of 85, he is able to look back on the events of his life with the kind of analytical clarity and sober-minded judgment that only old age can provide.

Wisely, Morris allows McNamara to speak for himself, providing very little in the way of poking and prodding as interviewer and filmmaker. McNamara looks at his long and varied career through the prism of eleven lessons he's learned about life and human nature. Each of these revelations is tied into a specific chapter of that career and life. We see McNamara taking stock of his actions as they relate to World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and most notably, of course, the Vietnam War, in each case ruminating aloud about the moral imperatives and ethical decisions he faced on a daily basis as his crucial role in all of these events played itself out. Some may find his comments to be a bit self-serving, an attempt to whitewash the facts and minimize his own responsibility, particularly as concerns his involvement in the Vietnam War. Yet, in many instances, McNamara accepts the judgments of history and admits his culpability, even if he generally does so in a broader war-is-a-necessary-evil context. There are moments during his reminiscence when McNamara actually wells up with tears, thinking about the immense loss of life and personal tragedy that inevitably result from man's insane obsession with destroying his fellow man - while all the time acknowledging that at times wars must be fought and casualties endured for a greater cause. All throughout the film, McNamara returns to this refrain, additionally warning us that, in the nuclear age in which we live, the human propensity for warfare could very easily lead us over the precipice to global devastation and annihilation as a species. We have little reason to believe that McNamara is not being sincere in his comments, although some more cynical viewers may wonder if he isn't merely saying what he thinks he should be saying in order to secure a more favorable reputation and image for himself as his life comes to a close. If that is, indeed, the case, Morris seems blissfully unaware of it, since he basically accepts McNamara's statements at face value. As an added - and perhaps unintended bonus - much of what McNamara says has a pertinent, timely, almost prescient ring to it, as the U.S. struggles through yet another foreign engagement, this time in Iraq.

As a documentary filmmaker, Morris demonstrates his usual skill at combining archival footage with one-on-one interviews as a way of bringing his subject matter to life. The caveat here is that Morris provides no counter voices to challenge any of McNamara's statements or his interpretation of events. Yet, as McNamara relates the story of his life, a fascinating history of 20th Century American foreign policy emerges in the background. We see many of the seminal figures from McNamara's time playing out the roles history and the fates assigned to them, from John Kennedy to Lyndon Johnson to Nikita Khrushchev to a whole host of other key players on the world stage. In addition, Philip Glass and John Kusiak have provided a haunting score to go along with the haunting images.

As the title suggests, this is a complex film on a complex subject and McNamara and Morris leave us with no pat or easy answers. That is as it should be.

The Fog of War" is Errol Morris's Academy Award winning documentary. In it he interviews the controversial political figure Robert McNamara, even though we don't hear much from Morris, who was the first president of the Ford Company that was not a Ford. His tenure as president lasted only five weeks after first receiving the position of Secretary of Treasury and then Secretary of Defense from John F. Kennedy. Claiming he was not qualified for either position, McNamara accepted after Kennedy said, "Look, Bob. I don't think there's any school for presidents either." After leaving Washington with a controversial legacy, McNamara became the president of the World Bank.

As Secretary of Defense during Kennedy and Johnson's administration, McNamara's career is assessed by the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. The heart of this documentary is listening to the amount of wisdom brought by a man who has been misunderstood and even under appreciated. The film is sectioned with chapters that are based on McNamara's lessons. Not all are compelling but McNamara sustains your interest as he speaks his mind based on what his career has taught him about his life and about the world we are situated in; past, present, and future.

"What 'the fog of war' means is: war is so complex it's beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all the variables." War is not something we can judge and understand adequately and as a result humans beings kill other humans unnecessarily. "The Fog of War" could not have been released at a better time than now, when a war is being fought with a justification that has become obstructed. It is an important documentary that makes us realize the full scope of the consequences of war. McNamara does not necessarily judge the U.S. but instead teach. Furthermore, he is not an idealist as he says, "I'm not so naïve or simplistic to believe we can eliminate war. We're not gonna change human nature any time soon." I agree. I don't believe we can eliminate terrorism either.
-Please finish my review at www.filmwiseguy.funtigo.com

Errol Morris's stunning documentary is about one of the 20th century's most significant players: Robert McNamara, who reprises the highlights of his life and professional career. The movie covers a lot of ground, including McNamara's stint as a Ford Motor Co. executive, his participation as a war planner in World War II, and his crucial involvement as secretary of defense under President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and under Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson during the Vietnam War. There are some stunning revelations, including his role in the firebombing of Japan, as well as the nuclear face-off between the United States and Cuba. This is another brilliant coup for Morris, the inspired documentarian who has made a career out of conversations with the most fascinating subjects. He tells a story that knocks you right off your feet.