Monday, February 02, 2004

The Fog of War

Emily, a grand Lady of OKC peace activism, sent me the text of this Ellen Goodman editorial reflecting on the documentary "The Fog of War". This documentary is essentially an interview with Robert McNamara, one of the chief architects of America's Viet Nam policy.

It's become increasingly popular to consider our current situation as Viet Nam redux, but Ms. Goodman strives to avoid that type of lazy thinking. She does compare the two conflicts, however, and draws some parallels.

One thing Ellen mentions is that decisions in both cases were based on poor information and misinterpreted reports. I believe another similarity is a sort of hubris, that America would have the perogative to decide what form of government is best for another country.

I encourage you to read the editorial in full. Personally, I'm going to watch for a local showing of the documentary. I suspect the OKC Art Museum will be my best bet.

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