The documentary Fog of War is regarding the life of the former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. McNamara uses the film to justify his actions and his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis, World War II, and the Vietnam War. McNamara became the Secretary of Defense leaving his post as the CEO of Ford Motors. McNamara divides this film into eleven lessors and each one tells a significant story about his involvement. McNamara explains the eleven lessons that were rules when making decisions about World War II and the Vietnam War.
Although McNamara uses this film to rationalize and justify some of his actions, he does admit that he did make some wrong decisions. He quotes Wilson and says that Wilson went to war to end all wars. McNamara claims that this cannot happen because war is part of human nature. The first six lessons – empathize with the enemy, rationality will not save us, there is something beyond oneself, maximize efficiency, proportionality should be a guideline in war, and get data – are all rules for life and war.
McNamara states that proportionality should be a guideline in war as the fifth lesson. McNamara uses it to discuss the morality of war saying that he would rather use a bomb and kill innocent people then send in his own soldiers across the sea to fight. McNamara said that proportionality was about hurting the enemy not necessarily killing the most military soldiers and killing civilians was hurting the enemy the most. McNamara states that war is so complex it is beyond the human mind to understand the full complexities; therefore he created this film for people to understand his reasoning behind his decisions.
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