The advantage to taking them out is?

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

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

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.]