War is a terrible mistake to make. It can’t be undone. No amount of concessions, no amends, can bring back the innocent lives lost. The horrors witnessed can never be unseen. But Robert McNamara uttered three powerful words, and we shouldn’t forget them either:
“We were wrong.”
Sadly, McNamara is remembered as the architect of the Vietnam War. But when was the last time you heard a politician, or any person of power, say those words in earnest? Certainly, the title “McNamara’s War” is a little unfair. It was not his alone. These atrocities cannot rest solely on his shoulders.
He was wrong. Terribly wrong. And he absolutely should’ve admitted this the second he realized it. But the war belongs to many people, not just him. He spent the rest of his life trying, albeit in vain, to atone for his sins.
Will our recent architects of war see the error of their ways? Will they spend the rest of their lives trying to build developing economies, helping the very class of people they harmed the most?
Only time will tell....
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