Robert McNamara and the Vietnam War - Research Paper Example

? Robert McNamara Word Count Robert McNamara Robert McNamara lived between 1916 and 2009. He worked as the secretary of defenseunder the presidency of John F. Kennedy and later worked on the same post under President Lyndon Baines Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. During his tenure as the secretary of defense broke the Vietnam War. His major role and controversial ideas concerning the Vietnam War later forced him to step down as the secretary of defense, having been handed a job in the World Bank in 1968. McNamara was always opposed to massive retaliatory attacks in response to military challenges; he was, however, for the idea of limited non nuclear warfare strategy. This position was an outright opposition to the ideology of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. He took a number of steps to reform the military strategy and capabilities, for instance, by lessening the vulnerability of missile attacks in addition to establishment of the United States Strike Command which was mandated to draw forces when necessary from the military services. The United States Strike Command was to report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who would, in turn, report to the secretary of defense. “Other major reforms on the military service include increase of long-range airlift and sealift capabilities, consolidation of military functions to have all the powers centre on the secretary of defense.”1 During the War, McNamara gradually doubted whether the war was in real sense necessary. “He objected the idea posed by the military commanders to increase troops to South Vietnam as well as intensifying bombing of the northern Vietnam.”2 , McNamara’s declaration that he had supported Vietnam War strategy out of his loyalty to the administration complicated matters with President Lyndon Baines Johnson who later announced that McNamara was to leave the secretary of defense job to join the world. This appeared to the public as an indirect firing of McNamara by the president. The sour relationship with Lyndon Baines Johnson administration necessitated his departure from the government; it was even worse bearing in mind that he could not agree with the Joint Chiefs of Staff over the war in Vietnam. In 1966, there were widespread public speculations that McNamara was going to leave office. The speculations and rumors came to pass later in November 1967, after McNamara gave a recommendation to President Lyndon Baines Johnson to stop attacks on North Vietnam, lessen the size of troops and hand over ground fighting to South Vietnam, this idea was immediately rejected by President Johnson. According to his belief, the military strategy in Vietnam War had failed. From the reasons for objection as presented by McNamara, it almost became apparent that Vietnam War lacked the necessary support to achieve its objectives as stated in his documentary ‘the Vietnam war’, “None of our allies supported us…if we can’t persuade these nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we’d better re-examine our reasoning.”3 According to him, the war would have had a justified reason had it been fully supported by America’s close allies such as Japan, Germany, Britain and France. He later announced his resignation in November the same year and joined the World Bank. After his departure, a number of questions arose on what actually compelled him to leave the defense job with some like Baral in his book The Pentagon and the making of U.S. foreign policy alleging that McNamara was fired by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.4 This paper seeks to look at McNamara’s life and the war’s moral consequences and the reason behind his haunting after he was fired. It seems from history that McNamara was up to a different agenda from that held by President Lyndon Baines Johnson and the military chiefs during the Vietnam War. For instance, on completion of his job at the World Bank, he joined other former national security chiefs in advocating the need for the United States of America to stop usage of nuclear weapons in the face of hostilities. In addition, the joint efforts were to ensure that nuclear weapons were fully eliminated as advocated by NATO. McNamara admits in his autobiography that “We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in the light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why.”5 It therefore, seems that he has already realized the weakness of the decisions made in the name of what the nation believed in but not by what was ethical. In his literal work, McNamara appears to regret the actions and decisions made during his tenure as the defense secretary. The consequences of the Vietnam seems according to him fatal, he explains that he appeared to have helped an obsessed president to undertake a war that didn’t have security returns to the nation. Moreover, McNamara has a feeling that the decision made by the top security officials of initiating Vietnam War had no support of the entire American population. It is also evident that Vietnam War’s consequences were so enormous and, hence, issues of concern often arise as to why it actually had to happen. As asserted in his book ‘In Retrospect’, “Three million Vietnamese died. Fifty-eight thousand Americans got to come home in body bags.”6 The hazardous results of war seemed to have tormented McNamara who sought resignation and refuge in the World Bank. McNamara spent the rest of his life in private being haunted by the large figures of deaths and negative consequences of the war; he didn’t appear in the public as expected of a former public figure. Errol’s documentary asserts, thus: “The greatest of these was to know one’s enemy-and to empathize with him.”7 The documentary cites eleven moral lessons learnt from Vietnam War all of which are regrets, according to McNamara. It is worth noting that from these lessons McNamara appears to be disturbed by what transpired under his watch, for instance, his statement that Americans must put themselves in the skin of their enemies and look through their enemies’ eye is a clear manifestation of his empathy. In summary, McNamara lived a life with the entirely negative attitude towards war, especially with the usage of nuclear weapon. The description of his participation and contribution in American bombing of Japan’s cities during the Second World War and the deaths that resulted out of the war shows how much he was haunted by the killings. Similarly, during America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, McNamara was quoted saying that the war was a complex mission beyond human comprehension and that the judgment were not adequate and would, therefore, result in killing people for no reason. From this statement, McNamara appears to be opposing the idea of invasion because of the perceived consequences that would later cause regrets and witch haunting. His advice seems to be aligned on peaceful talks and non bloodshed resolution. McNamara’s acknowledgement in his book “Retrospect” that Vietnam War was a total mess and unnecessary evil three decades after the war. This is a clear indication that from his experience life has never been good to him particularly because of the role he played in the war. The world seems to be working against him, for instance, McClatchy Newspaper editorial termed his apologies and confessions as totally unnecessary as there was no way he could justify reasons behind the large number of deaths as a result of that war. In his confession and apology, McNamara leaves some detail by alleging that the devil was in the details of Vietnam War. His apologies and confessions receive shear condemnation from the American society and also the press, for instance, this statement is found in a newspaper as a result of his confession: "His regret cannot be huge enough to balance the books for our dead soldiers. The ghosts of those unlived lives circle close around Mr. McNamara. Surely he must in every quiet and prosperous moment hear the ceaseless whispers of those poor boys in the Infantry, dying in the tall grass, platoon by platoon, for no purpose. What he took from them cannot be repaid by prime-time apology and stale tears, three decades late."8 Records show that Vietnam War was very costly to the American society, at some point over 100 000 new soldiers had to be recruited in the face of an opposing society. Recruitment and training exercise took a very short time causing doubts on the actual preparedness of the young soldiers. The society later blamed this haste in training for the large number of American troops’ death. All the blame centered on the war architect, McNamara, and other military chiefs. The accusations and blame made McNamara live a life of wrestling with these moral consequences. In conclusion, many analysts describe McNamara’s character as well driven, dedicated and loyal to the authority. However, as a public servant, he accepted blindly to the demands of his superiors in planning and prosecuting a warfare that would later lead him live a life of a worrying past. However, he appears to learn from mistakes made in the war. This is seen in his effort to wipe out nuclear weapons. He gained confidence even after all the mistakes he had instigated in the position of defense secretary and could not keep quite but speaks out. From his story, it is agreeable that until his death in 2009, McNamara really lived a life of battling with the moral consequences of war under his watch. Notes 1. Stephen J. Flanagan. “Strategic Challenges: America's Global Security Agenda.” Virginia: Potomac Books, Inc., (2008): 320. 2. James Michael Roherty. “Decisions of Robert S. McNamara: a study of the role of the Secretary of Defense.” Michigan: University of Miami Press, (1970): 183-84 3. Robert S. McNamara and Brian VanDeMark. “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam Vintage Series.” New York: Vintage, (1996):353 4. Jaya Krishna Baral. “The Pentagon and the making of U.S. foreign policy: a case Study of Vietnam 1960-1968.” Santa Clara, CA: Humanities Press, (1978):310-11 5. McNamara, In Retrospect: 350. 6. McNamara, In Retrospect: 354. 7. Quoted, Errol’s documentary. “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.” (2003), http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/ (April 3, 2012) 8. Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy. “Commentary: 100,000 reasons to shed no tears for McNamara”. Mcclatchydc.com.2009. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/07/07/v-print/71430/commentary-100000-reasons-to-shed.html (April 2, 2012) Bibliography Baral Jaya, K. The Pentagon and the making of U.S. foreign policy: a case study of Vietnam, 1960-1968. Santa Clara, CA: Humanities Press, 1978. Flanagan, S. and Schear, A. Strategic Challenges: America's Global Security Agenda. Virginia: Potomac Books, 2008. McClatchy and Galloway, J. “Commentary: 100,000 reasons to shed no tears for McNamara”. Mcclatchydc.com. 2009. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/07/07/v-print/71430/commentary-100000-reasons-to-shed.html McNamara, Robert S. and Brian Van Demark. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam: Vintage Series. New York: Vintage, 1996. Morris Errol. Errol’s documentary: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003), http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/ Roherty, J. Decisions of Robert S. McNamara: a study of the role of the Secretary of Defense. Michigan: University of Miami Press, 1970. Read More