DAY OF THE FALCON

I've just finished watching The Fog of War, a documentary about the life of Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense during the 1960's and one of the most controversial public USA servants for the last half century.

And I must add he isn't a dove. Without hesitation he recomended higly criticizable decisions that costed thousands of lives during the last decades: he was part of the staff that recomended the firebombings of Tokyo during 1945 (which costed 100,000 lives), the strategy during the cuban missile crisis (that almost led to a nuclear war and the anihilation of Cuba), and the support for the war strategy in Vietman which costed like 25,000 american lives until his resignation in 1968.

Definitely, he's been a warrior... and a really intelligent person. Using wisely the tools of math and statistics, he was able to transform industries like automotive into safety driven oriented. But he's still a controversial man. During the movie he says something important: we (the USA) must empathise our enemies. If the military know who's their enemy and is able to understand their motives and reasons, then, there will be more tools to achieve victory.

Other important statement is "get the data". So if you are gonna attack another country, it's compulsory getting a deep knowledge of the enemy: his strenghts and his weaknesses. McNamara admits doing wrong at going war in Vietnam withouth knowing the facts that lead to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and going at war without knowing who was the friend and who was the foe.

And my favorite one: In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil. Being a person in contact with real warriors as General Curtis LeMay (who makes Condi Rice seem like a sweet scout girl), he knows that war is not a picnic, nor a travel to heavens. Wars are nasty and involve coming to terms with harsh realities like supporting people with questionable credentials or evildoers which serves short termed necesities.

If there's somebody near GWB reading this post (and maybe Tony Blair also), it'd be nice to suggest them to see the movie. It isn't boring, either log (it just takes 95 minutes) and it has some great graphics. But more important, it carries a message: you can't go to war without a good reason and the guts to sink into dirty realities with full knowledge of cause.