Nation Topics - Robert McNamara | The Nation

One of “the best and the brightest” died last week, and in Richard Holbrooke we had a perfect example of the dark mischief to which David Halberstam referred when he authored that ironic label.

Ed Koch rebuilt New York City by demolishing its long-running experiments in urban liberalism.

Obama's Pentagon is preparing for a number of counterinsurgencies in the developing world

We learned so much, at such cost, in Vietnam. Why must we learn it all again in Afghanistan?

What if eight years ago the World Trade Center had been leveled by a small nuclear bomb that took out most of lower Manhattan as well?

The eerie confluence of the tales of two convicted mass murderers, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and William Calley--and their fates.

The Buck Stops Here

Ellicott City, Md.

The former secretary of defense presided over the deaths of millions--and was one of the only officials to express regret.

It was the stark evil Robert McNamara perpetrated as secretary of defense that must indelibly frame our memory of him.

The former secretary of defense presided over the deaths of millions--and was one of the only officials to publicly express regret.