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Tuesday, July 7, 2009 12:00 AM

All sides blame McNamara for Vietnam

People for and against the war agree on one thing only: It was Robert McNamara's fault
By Michael Lind

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  • Monday, July 6, 2009 07:57 PM

    A nation of fingerpointers

    If there is one thing Americans love it’s a good scapegoat. There is nothing quite like projecting our collective pathologies onto another person and then watching them burn for what all know are our own crimes.

    Ironically, McNamara could point fingers with the best of them. Till the end of his life he stoically justified his technocratic decisions. If the title weren’t already taken, his biography could be called “Mistakes were made, but not by me.”

    —Chad Bagley Read Chad Bagley's other letters

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