How Did Robert Mcnoamara Fight Against The Vietnam War

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Robert S. McNamara was the former Secretary of Defense under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He was a controversial figure because while most of the elements within the White House wanted to invade Cuba, he and Kennedy both wanted to keep the nation out of war. Considered to be one of the major strategists behind the war, McNamara was reviled by many in the peace movement. Some were also critical of the information he conveyed about the situation in Vietnam. McNamara visited Vietnam several times during his tenure as secretary of defense. And during a later visit, he reportedly began to develop reservations as to whether the United States would be able to secure a victory over the communists. McNamara prosecuted the Vietnam War with …show more content…

The war stretched across many generations, killing more than three million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans. It was considered controversial for creating one of the greatest anti-government protest movements in American history because tensions ran higher than ever, spurred on by mass demonstrations and incidents of official violence such those at Kent State in May 1970, when National Guard troops shot into a group of protesters demonstrating against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, killing four students. In mid-1971, the publication of the first Pentagon Papers–which revealed previously confidential details about the war’s conduct–caused more and more Americans to question the accountability of the U.S. government and military establishments. It remains controversial today because the Pentagon papers sealed American sentiment against the war, and finally convinced the Nixon administration to seek a negotiated peace. In a sad irony, the U.S. and Vietnam are allies and trading partners, today, and Vietnam is a buffer in Southeast Asia against …show more content…

Although many army, navy seals, etc. people have lost their lives due to their moral judgement, it’s the act and purpose that really counts. To minimize these deaths, morals should only really come into it when it comes to dealing with a detached populace. A detached populace requires a moral booster, and if it sees allied troops performing actions that can only be called good-natured then they (having suffered at the hands of a tyrant and losing its sense of morality) will begin to remember what it meant to be good to their fellow man. Morality is something that can stop a country's populace from turning on it's saviors, and an Army with little Morality may well find itself at odds with the populace at large. McNamara says that proportionality should be a guideline in war. He suggests that damage inflicted in a time of war should be proportional to one’s goals. He does not advocate “taking it easy” on one’s opponents. He is not suggesting a nation fail to get the job done. He is saying we should strive to kill only as much as necessary to achieve our objectives. It should matter all the time during