The Fog of War

A couple of years I watched a documentary featuring Robert McNamara called the Fog of War. McNamara had many roles in his life but the documentary focused on his time in the Air Force during World War Two and his time as Secretary of Defense, which took place during some of the most intense years of the Vietnam War. In discussing his role in relentlessly bombing Japanese cities at the end of the war and the fact that if the allies had lost they would have been tried for war crime and after hearing him somberly describe the failures in Vietnam he said something that seemed very meaningful. He stated that the human race needed to evaluate the amount of evil in the world and what amount of violence was worth it to destroy it. McNamara went on to say that when humans engage in something so intense and emotional as war that a fog is created that distorts right and wrong and the values and ideas being fought for in the first place. This fog seems to have plagued Truman the scientists working on the Atomic bomb at the close of World War Two and the beginning of the Cold War.

It is very difficult for me to imagine the psyche of the American people and someone like Truman at the close of the Second World War. All of American society had been shaken by the war and thousands of Americans had perished. The hatred that must have filled the hearts of even the best of Americans for Germany and Japan must have been immense. I think it is possible that this is partly why the Truman administration chose to ignore the evidence that historians now see clearly that saw a peaceful way for Japan to surrender. Considering the brutality of the conflict between Japan and America perhaps Truman saw facts in front of him that went against his emotional reaction that the war could never end peacefully. Perhaps more important, and also related to the fog of war is the fact that Truman saw dropping the bomb on Japan to gain the upper hand in what seemed to be an inevitable conflict with the Soviet Union. It wasn't irrational for Truman to see a future conflict between the two great victors of World War Two but looking back now it appears horrifying that dropping the atom bomb on Japan would be used to begin this struggle. I can only attribute this to the fog of war. Because of the great losses of World War Two perhaps Truman saw the world as a place with so much evil that war might go on and on forever. Truman was desperate enough to end World War Two and more importantly prevent another great war with the Soviet Union that he was willing to kill thousands of more Japanese when it was almost certainly unnecessary. It is impossible not feel sympathy for a shell-shocked America in 1945, but it does not excuse the horrific decision to begin a nuclear era simply to send a message.

The fog of war did not escape scientists during World War Two. Whether it was for personal gain, to defeat fascism, or for their patriotism many scientists allowed the fog to distort a view of the future where they could not control the influence of their work. In New Mexico where the scientists relentlessly attempted to build the bomb, it mentioned frequently that there was little discussion of what the implications were of what they were doing. And when questions were asked influential scientists were often pushed to the side and were told to quietly push towards their goal. When World War Two came to a close and the fog began to clear many scientists tried to gain influence in how their technology was being used, but the monster they had created was difficult to control. The America they lived in was hypersensitive to criticism of the military industrial complex built upon science and technology, and was engaged in a Cold War where the threat of nuclear war hung over science and humanity. America and science achieved many great things during World War Two but in what were very difficult circumstances they both could of done a better job of respecting human life and looking at the broader impact of their actions and choices.