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Robert Strange Mcnamara In The Fog Of War

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This paper is a case study about Robert Strange McNamara as a person, an advisor during WWII, and the time when he was the US secretary of defense. McNamara is a man whose carrier begun mostly during WWII when he was working in statistics office upgrading USAF efficiency against Nazi Germany and Japan. He was a man devoted to his country, wise and mathematically skilled. His analytic brain across with confidence close to arrogance gave him prime position in advising USAF. He was not a leader at that time but he was strongly influential on commanders’ decisions, especially General Le May commander of Bomber Command. Le May was a brave commander who was dedicated to destroy targets at all costs. McNamara and Le May were inspired by many …show more content…

At the beginning of his carrier, McNamara was fresh, wise, going out of the box advisor. Using his knowledge of statistics, mathematics, and philosophy increased effectiveness of air force. However, his blind belief in numbers and statistics made him less human, and it is obvious that some of humanity limits were crossed thanks to his conclusions and advisory. In the movie “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara” which is an interview with him, McNamara admitted openly that it was a mistake to use B-29 bombers with incendiary bombs against civilian population in Japan. What was confusing in his confession was that he never admitted that he was in charge and he was responsible for war crimes. He quoted General Curtis Le May telling him that if they lost the war they would have been both judged for war crimes they committed. He also questioned, what is the difference between the war crime offender who won a war and who lost a war? In that unanswered question, one could find moral regret for what McNamara was part. Even more, his voice struggles with horrible facts

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