McNamara's folly - deliberate use of low-IQ troops in Vietnam!

[ricardian]

McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War
US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara lowered mental standards to induct 354,000 low-IQ men. Their death toll in combat was appalling.

[tango15]

This would be the same Robert Strange (real name) McNamara who wrote In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Times Books, 1995. I believe it has a prime place on Mr Putin's bookshelf.

[OneHungLow]

Sadly, often, but not always, people from the poorest classes, and races, in society, who have been poorly educated, are judged using conventional IQ tests to be morons, or whatever pejorative word one might summon up, when they are none of those things, even though they can't read, write, do arithmetic etc. I am thinking for example, of the San trackers used by the SADF during the war in SWA. Men who were written off, literally, as being primitive and backward by all in sundry, and yet became feared by the SWAPO guerillas et al, who made every attempt to annihilate these people who were extraordinary geniuses in their own environment, where they consummate trackers, survivors and soldiers!

McNamara's cynicism in using those at the bottom of the proficiency pool was criminal but not surprising, because, as ever, it was the best educated, and wealthiest who were available to avoid the draft etc. Some are more "equal" than others! Vide Donald Trump and his "bone spurs!"

https://www.khwattu.org/exhibitions/the ... f-the-san/

[G~Man]

I think I had already mentioned on the book thread that I spent a weekend on the Craig McNamara's, (Craig is Robert's son), farm for a wedding---SWeMBO's nephew married his daughter Emily. I spent about an hour talking with Craig about many things, just not vIetnam.

Check out the farm here

I did buy his book and read that afterwards. I think the one thing I relalized about his book and now this thread, iss that war is ugly on many fronts, it is never fair, and we spend waay too much money on being prepaared for war. Crazy world society.
His book is interesting:

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41fJ0Ups1YL._SL500_.jpg (21.93 KiB) Viewed 1456 times

[Karearea]

Sadly, often, but not always, people from the poorest classes, and races, in society, who have been poorly educated, are judged using conventional IQ tests to be morons, or whatever pejorative word one might summon up, when they are none of those things, even though they can't read, write, do arithmetic etc. I am thinking for example, of the San trackers used by the SADF during the war in SWA. Men who were written off, literally, as being primitive and backward by all in sundry, and yet became feared by the SWAPO guerillas et al, who made every attempt to annihilate these people who were extraordinary geniuses in their own environment, where they consummate trackers, survivors and soldiers!

McNamara's cynicism in using those at the bottom of the proficiency pool was criminal but not surprising, because, as ever, it was the best educated, and wealthiest who were available to avoid the draft etc. Some are more "equal" than others! Vide Donald Trump and his "bone spurs!"


San.JPG


https://www.khwattu.org/exhibitions/the ... f-the-san/

From The Militarisation of the San link above -

...a report by the Argus Africa News Service: “Terrorist attacks have brought unexpected benefits for thousands of Bushmen in South West Africa [Namibia]. It has given them a chance to join the 20th century.”...

breathtaking arrogance!

Re the video, McNamara's Morons - The Low Intelligence Soldiers Used as Guinea Pigs in the Vietnam War - dreadfully sad; the comments below the video are illuminating also.

[OneHungLow]

From The Militarisation of the San link above -

...a report by the Argus Africa News Service: “Terrorist attacks have brought unexpected benefits for thousands of Bushmen in South West Africa [Namibia]. It has given them a chance to join the 20th century.”...

breathtaking arrogance!

Re the video, McNamara's Morons - The Low Intelligence Soldiers Used as Guinea Pigs in the Vietnam War - dreadfully sad; the comments below the video are illuminating also.

More than just arrogance, but wilful misrepresentation of the situation as the San had been coerced into the military and were deserted by the SADF once the war in SWA came to an end. The current Namibian government continues to discriminate against these people who have suffered for generations whatever government was in power. The war and their participation in it caused untold harm to their society.

As the Vietnam video shows, McNamara et al tried to put an equally dubious societally advantageous spin on the use, more abuse, of the mentally, physically, and educationally challenged in the military during the Vietnam war. The fact that these categories of men suffered disproportionate casualties during the war, and their lack of support thereafter amounts to criminal negligence by the government and people like McNamara. It is little wonder that a young man later attempted to kill McNamara by throwing him off a ferry.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/when-an- ... u_b_226870