Nation: McNamara's Many Wars

In power-jealous Washington, it was inevitable that an official as dynamic, aggressive and determined as Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara would eventually face full-scale congressional scrutiny. Last week South Carolina's L. Mendel Rivers, a McNamara critic who became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee a year ago, announced that he will soon launch not one but four parallel investigations of McNamara's policies.

McNamara has had his jousts with congressional committees before. But never have so many lances been pointed at him at once, and never by such aroused antagonists. Separate subcommittees will investigate 1) McNamara's decision to defer construction projects that...