Several topics in Charlie's interview with McNamara caught my attention. First of all, he suggested that human beings should adopt new rules for warfare. This struck me as one of the most unrealistic comments I've ever heard or read about war. Second, he mentioned a debriefing he apparently attended in which he discussed the firebombing of Tokyo with Curtis LeMay. He felt it was tragic that LeMay was only concerned about the orders he had recieved to fly his mission at 5,000 feet instead of 29,000 feet, which he felt was responsible for the deaths of his wingman's crewmembers. McNamara appeared to be revulsed by this contrast in deaths, somewhere 80,000 people or many more depending on your estimates. He did concede the issue of potential troop loss if Americans were to be required to invade the Japanese central islands, and his thoughts were otherwise very coherent (aside from the idea of rewriting the rules of warfare).
While I was watching this segment, I idly searched for McNamara on the Internet. My eyes happened across a http://kerrycountry.org:
We had nothing with which to shoot back since Secretary of Defense McNamara had prohibited us from carrying any weapons of self-defense (even pistols for our survival vests) in an attempt to appease the enemy and “facilitate the peace talks.” --When John Kerry Slandered Me /blockquote> Putting comments I've ready by David Halberstam and others together with McNamara's, I realized that I was listening to the words of an extremely intelligent person who had let his ability to grasp vast amounts of information get the better of himself. What worries me most just now, is not the horrific notion fought the war in Vietnam to lose it, or the terror I feel when I realize that we nearly destroyed ourselves in nuclear combat during the Missile Crisis, it's the sense that the war on terror is currently restrained by similar thinking, that political correctness and a need for "trying to invent new rules for conflict" may be in play. And I do not doubt for a second that it is our press, activists like Michael Moore, and political pressure from Democratic candidates such as John Kerry which has restrained our hand.Wars must be fought to be won, or not fought at all. In Vietnam, we took the fight to the enemy, and almost won. The press and the Democratic party checked our resolve and swayed the American people to let go of their grasp on victory. That's one point of view that I will continue to hold. But what of others, that we couldn't win? That we shouldn't have fought it at all? Ask men like McNamara why we didn't win. They are the product of our successes in WWII, the guilt we felt for hurting so many innocent people, the fear we endured of being merciless victors. Why does McNamara fear nuclear holocaust so much, when he was one of the engineers of our decision to scrap missile defense?
America, when you fight a war, fight to win. Fight like it's your last battle. It may well be. But don't put men like McNamara back in charge. Have faith. Know you are right because you fight for freedom and justice. Know that history will be written by the victor. Know that you have every right to win at all cost.
Don't fight any war unless you are sure you will finish it victoriously. But if the enemy brings the war to you, there is no other choice but to crush him, his allies, and anyone who sympathizes with him. This is our fight. Americas, lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way because we're not going to repeat our mistakes in Vietnam. We weren't just attacked in some dark and far away gulf this time. And it wasn't just thousands of sailors who went to their untimely graves because of Pan-Arab fascism. This time it's more personal than any attack in American history. This time we will not rest until our enemies are finished. America, stay with us. We're going to keep taking the war to the enemy until this is a footnote in history.
Are you coming with us? Make up your minds because history will make it for you if you don't. You will either write the rules for this war, or else they will be written for you. Make your choice now.
