The Fog of War

The Fog of War
1 Samuel 13: 23- 14: 52

I recently watched a British movie called In the Loop, a Monty Pythonesque version of how we came to invade Iraq. It was a cynical, fictionalized account of how the implications of intelligence from the Middle East got turned upside down to justify an invasion that some people in government were determined to bring about one way or another. It reminded me of the expression “the fog of war,” which summarizes a point made by the Prussian soldier and military thinker Carl von Clausewitz. He noted the problems caused by the great uncertainty of all data in war. Every action you take has to be planned in a kind of twilight. Further, that twilight often has the effect of a fog or moonshine. It gives things exaggerated dimensions and an unnatural appearance. The Fog of War became the title of another movie, about Robert McNamara, U.S. Defense Secretary during the Vietnam War, who analyzed eleven mistakes the United States made in Vietnam...