The Fog of War2003

Kennedy:
The advantage to taking them out is?

McNamara:
We can say to the Congress and people that we do have a plan for reducing the exposure of U.S. combat personnel.

Kennedy:
My only reservation about it is if the war doesn't continue to go well, it will look like we were overly optimistic.

McNamara:
We need a way to get out of Vietnam, and this is a way of doing it.

[This conversation was taped on October 2, 1963. This tape, together with a series of conversations between McNamara and President Johnson together depict McNamara as being less pro-war than he is often charactarized as being.]