 Upon his return to the United States, McNamara told the press that the U.S forces in Vietnam were inflicting "increasingly heavy losses" on the VC, but in private told President Johnson that the situation was "worse than a year ago".McNamara also advised the president that by early 1966 he would have to send 100,000 more troops to South Vietnam in order to win the war, and mobilize the reserves and state National Guards as well.Johnson accepted the first recommendation while rejecting the latter, disregarding Bundy's warnings that to send more troops would paradoxically mean less leverage over South Vietnam.