Aid and Comfort

Aid and Comfort
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McNamara’s defense on his failure to voice disapproval about the war in Vietnam is something that cannot be agreed with. The serious concerns that he revealed about the war ought to have been raised prior. As a Secretary of State, his counsel was necessary as this could have played a significant role in saving the US economic competitiveness. Merino (2015) indicates that aid and comfort are only caused when one renders assistance or counsel to the enemies leading to their gaining of strength. The concerns of McNamara ought to have been raised and a proper negotiation channels brought forward to avoid creation of conflict in Vietnam. This could not have been recognized as a provision of aid and comfort to the enemy. His failure to raise the issues seems to be disloyal to the President and not vice versa. If in any case, he raised the concerns, his loyalty to the President could have been improved and at the same time, boosting the U.S economic competition in Vietnam.
Democracy only functions when leaders are allowed to discuss their concerns about various policies. The goal of the foreign policy, for example, is to determine America’s relations with other foreign entities and nations worldwide. However, the key players who are involved include different leaders involving even the Secretaries of State. For democracy to be fully realized, such leaders should be allowed to air the views on various policies before they are implemented (as cited in Merino, 2015).

Inability to discuss different concerns about a given policy by leaders only renders democracy to be dysfunctional.
Bush administration was primarily based on the Bush Doctrine. It had its foundation based on the principles of preventive war and unilateralism. The administration acted on pre-emption citing that since Iraq had weapons of the mass destruction, U.S had to attack first. The war in Iraq caused isolationism in the U.S. As McNamara or an advisor to the administration; I would have considered negotiation with Iraq to avoid the conflict. My advice could have been mainly on negotiation process between the two countries to prevent the current retaliation that they experience almost now and then.
Reference
Merino, N. (2015). US foreign policy. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Greenhaven Press.