[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H7729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING ROBERT McNAMARA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Robert McNamara once said, ``You can correct a wrong 
only if you understand how it occurred and you take steps to make sure 
it won't happen again.''
  Today, as we mark the passing of the late Secretary, I think it's 
time to apply the lessons he learned in Vietnam to our own times. He 
said, ``We are not omniscient. If we cannot persuade other nations with 
similar interests and similar values of the merits of the proposed use 
of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally.''
  We had to learn that lesson again in Iraq.
  He also said, ``Our judgments of friend and foe, alike, reflected our 
profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people 
in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.''
  That's another lesson we learned again in Iraq.
  Secretary McNamara's Vietnam regrets also extended to the homefront. 
He confessed that ``We failed to draw Congress and the American people 
into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a 
large-scale military involvement before we initiated the action.''
  Unfortunately, we did the same thing with Iraq.
  Instead of being straight with the American people, we spent years 
reducing the debate to a false choice between ``stay the course'' and 
``cut and run.'' Today, as in McNamara's time, we face the consequences 
of our silence.
  McNamara also recognized that we did not learn from his initial 
mistake. We stuck to the same tired plan of action, even if it had 
minimal relevance to the situation on the ground.
  ``After the action got underway,'' McNamara said, ``and unanticipated 
events forced us off our planned course, we did not fully explain what 
was happening and why we were doing what we did.''
  We have learned that same lesson again in Iraq and too often find 
ourselves bogged down by unattainable goals and unable to explain why 
we are there and what we plan to do about it. Unfortunately, we have 
had to learn many of the same lessons twice.
  In the early years of the Vietnam war, just as in the early years of 
the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, you could state with confidence that 
our military was the most powerful in the world. But military strength 
does not always translate into victory on the ground.
  Secretary McNamara had learned a terrible lesson, that fighting a war 
without committed allies, without planning, without public discussion 
and against an enemy force defending its home territory, is not a 
winning proposition.
  In fact, in 1962, McNamara said, ``Every quantitative measurement we 
have shows we're winning this war.''
  But Vietnam wasn't ultimately about quantitative measures. It wasn't 
enough to burn out its jungles with napalm or blockade its ports with 
gunships. The bigger issue was strategy, planning and foresight. We 
didn't know why we were fighting in the first place nor what we are 
fighting to achieve in the long run.
  We had no perspective from which to evaluate our progress and 
reevaluate our goals. All we had were empty measures of troops, bombs 
and jets. The lesson of Vietnam has had to be learned and relearned too 
many times.
  Secretary McNamara finally admitted in 1995, ``We were in the wrong 
place with the wrong tactics.''
  At this time of his passing, we should take a moment to reflect on 
his legacy and take steps to ensure the wrongs of Vietnam don't happen 
again. The key lesson from Secretary McNamara is that we do that we do 
not live in a simple world with simple solutions. Military force is 
only one piece of the puzzle. Success depends on many variables.
  McNamara saw this complexity in Vietnam. ``We failed to recognize 
that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may 
be problems for which there are no immediate solutions. At times we may 
have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.''
  That same complexity exists in the present conflicts in Afghanistan 
and Iraq. We need an open and frank discussion of our goals as well as 
how we plan to achieve them. The American people deserve to know if we 
are in the wrong place with the wrong tactics. Let's not sacrifice 
another generation to a war we think we are winning on paper.

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