Robert McNamara is dead. An adviser under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, McNamara was largely held responsible for the war in Vietnam. McNamara is notable to me because he is one of the rare public figures in recent times to try to apologize and admit that he was wrong. That's a rare thing, in politics and in life. It can't undo what he did, and what Vietnam did, but it's someplace to start, in any case.
A Simple Desultory Phillipic, by Simon and Garfunkel
"I been Norman Mailered, Maxwell Taylored.
I been John O'Hara'd, McNamara'd.
I been Rolling Stoned and Beatled till I'm blind.
I been Ayn Randed, nearly branded
Communist, 'cause I'm left-handed.
That's the hand I use, well, never mind!
I been Phil Spectored, resurrected.
I been Lou Adlered, Barry Sadlered.
Well, I paid all the dues I want to pay.
And I learned the truth from Lenny Bruce,
And all my wealth won't buy me health,
So I smoke a pint of tea a day.
I knew a man, his brain was so small,
He couldn't think of nothing at all.
He's not the same as you and me.
He doesn't dig poetry. He's so unhip that
When you say Dylan, he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas,
Whoever he was.
The man ain't got no culture,
But it's alright, ma,
Everybody must get stoned.
I been Mick Jaggered, silver daggered.
Andy Warhol, won't you please come home?
I been mothered, fathered, aunt and uncled,
Been Roy Haleed and Art Garfunkeled.
I just discovered somebody's tapped my phone.
I lost my harmonica, Albert."
What a wonderful world it might be if all politicians would accept responsibility like that! You are right, it is worthy of respect indeed.
ReplyDeleteI love that song. :)
A true tragedy that South Vietnam lost. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in reprisals by the North after they conquered the south. The Domino theory became reality (incliuding the Cambodian killing fields) and Vietnam remains to this day one of the worst, most oppressive states.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, DM, all that death and suffering in South Vietnam, both during and after the war, was horrific.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you can say that the domino theory was proven by events, though. Did India fall? Australia? Japan? South Korea?
It is impossible to argue counterfactually-it is conceivable that the United States making a stand in South Vietnam prevented all those countries from falling into Communist hands.
But I don't think you can argue that the United States' entry into Vietnam was wise. And I, for one, appreciate the fact that McNamara stood up and said he was wrong.
I also don't see Vietnam as being all that bad of a place. It's not France, exactly, but it's certainly more livable than it was.
Laos and Cambodia fell. That's two dominoes.
ReplyDeleteYes, but wasn't the whole point of the domino theory that one country will fall, and then another, and another, and another...?
ReplyDeleteAgain, we will never know if the US's entry in Vietnam stopped this, or if it didn't. But I cannot justify it being worth the 50000+ American lives and billions of US dollars.
Three in a row counts as "another, and another, and another".
ReplyDeleteWell, no, if it's one country, and then another, and another, and another, that's actually four-
ReplyDeletebut my point is, what about South Korea? Japan? Australia? India? Taiwan? Malaysia? The Phillipines? Indonesia?
If the domino theory holds true, half of those countries would have fallen, maybe all of them, at one point or another, to Marxists from 1969-1989. That was the point, right? You had to fight them in Saigon so you don't have to fight them in San Francisco. (Sounds familiar.)
Again, it's a counter factual-it is possible that the Politburo gets together and says, "Holy crap, the Americans are willing to spend millions to fight us in Vietnam. Better ease off on the world conquest, posthaste." I'm just saying it's not likely. As with so much, it's more complicated than that.
McNamara knew that, and said so.