Path to War (2002 TV Movie)

Alec Baldwin: Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense

Photos 

Quotes 

• Lyndon Baines Johnson : How many planes will we lose?

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : 20 to 25.

  Lyndon Baines Johnson : How many casualties?

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : 50.

  Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : 50 to 300 is my estimate, and if the bombs miss, it can go as high as 12,000, with fifty percent of these civilians and fifty percent of those killed.

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : Of course, we don't plan these strikes to miss our targets.

  Lyndon Baines Johnson : But you do miss sometimes. And this time you could hit a Russian ship. And the bomber pilot will be a kid from Johnson City, Texas, and that'll be the kid that starts World War III, thank you very much.

• Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : The bridge is a major target, and we've never hit it. Chances of civilian deaths will be almost zero.

  Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : I say 100 to 500, possibly more!

  Lyndon Baines Johnson : Which is it? 500 or zero?

• Walt Rostow : Mr. President, the Stennis committee is up in arms over our holding back on these bombing targets! Bob's testimony is coming up, and it'll take some heat off him if some of these could be cleared up before his appearance.

  Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : I think I can take the heat without padding my resume with more bombing missions.

• Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : This is a heavily-defended target in a very populated area.

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : The photos are right here, Mr. President ...

  Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : The photos are meaningless! The target is heavily defended. The pilots jettison their bombs while they're under attack. Now, I've been asking for two years why they don't just come straight up the river - that way, they dump their bombs, they go in the water and not on the people, and I still haven't got an answer!

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : Coming in from the gulf involves an extra turn, with our backs to those heavy defenses.

  Dean Rusk, Secretary of State : If it is so well defended, should we risk the pilots? Men dying is a relative thing.

  Gen. Earle 'Buzz' Wheeler : The effect of the air campaign is cumulative. Every blow makes the enemy stretch his resources.

  Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense : Stretching is a relative thing. Mr. President, we shouldn't be bombing for punitive reasons, but there just doesn't seem to be any point to this anymore!

  Lyndon Baines Johnson : Hit it! Hit the goddamn bridge.