Path to War (2002 TV Movie)

John Aylward: Dean Rusk, Secretary of State

Quotes 

• Lyndon Baines Johnson : [Looking at the fighter jet escort next to Air Force One]  Dean!

  Dean Rusk, Secretary of State : Are they ours?

  Lyndon Baines Johnson : I fuckin' hope so.

• 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.