Robert McNamara's Eleven Lessons in "The Fog of War" and the Ongoing Conflict in Libya

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“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This George Santayana quote speaks volumes about what should be taken into consideration when making a decision with a lot riding on it. If nothing else, this quote serves as the proper bridge, or connection, between Robert McNamara’s Eleven Lessons in “The Fog of War” and the ongoing conflict in Libya. In “The Fog of War”, Robert McNamara breaks down 11 vital lessons he learned about war from the Vietnam War. When looking at the current Libyan situation, these lessons can be similarly applied, and thus avoid any potentially costly mistakes like the ones made in Vietnam. McNamara himself has stated that those particular 11 lessons were intended to be applied to war in its most general meaning. However, some lessons are certainly more applicable than others. The four lessons in particular that stand out are, “empathize with your enemy”, “proportionality should be a guideline to war”, “belief and seeing are both often wrong” and “be prepared to re-examine your reasoning.” These four lessons need to be applied in Libya to ensure that history’s mistakes are not needlessly repeated.

The 2011 Libyan Civil War started as peaceful protesting in front of the police headquarters over ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s corruption as their leader. This protest was met with brutal police violence. This sparked the Transitional National Council’s formation in an effort to change the government. The peaceful protest then made the leap to a rebel uprising that began to spread across the entire country. In order to contain this rebellion effort, Gaddafi stepped up his military control of the country and took back major cities. He also blocked off the public’s access to the media with censorsh...

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...Be Prepared to Reexamine Your Reasoning."

CURIOSITATIS CAPTIVUS « Thesauri Sapientiae Et Quisquiliae. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. .

The Fog of War. Dir. Erroll Morris. Perf. Robert McNamara. Web.

"Libya: Are There “good” Rebels and “bad” Rebels?" US Common Sense. 31 Mar. 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. .

Marcus, Johnathon. "BBC News - Arming Libya's Rebels: A Cautionary Tale." BBC - Homepage. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2011. .

Midway, Steve. "11 Science Lessons -- from War - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life

Sciences." The Scientist : Home : Friday. 12 Apr. 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2011. .

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