Strategic Hamlet Program

In a panic to sustain the opposing efforts of the Viet Cong in Vietnam and the growing communist campaign during the Cold War, the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem failed to sufficiently plan its Strategic Hamlet program, leading to its rejection and failure. Pushing President Kennedy to rapidly increase US intervention and eventually, President Diem's assassination.

What was the purpose behind the Strategic Hamlet program, and how did it crash and burn so badly, resulting in the Vietcong and membership of the National Liberation Front increasing by 300% in the two years after its failure?

Strategic Hamlet Program Summary

The first development of the Project started towards the end of 1961 because the government in the Republic of Vietnam feared that the Viet Cong were using southern villages in the countryside to find shelter and influence its residents. In their attempts to prevent the growth of the Viet Cong, the Strategic Hamlet program was created to improve the security of the villages, implement political measures amongst the local officials, and push for the people to take a stand and defend their homes from the intimidation and warfare of the communist campaigns.

Fig. 1 Vietnamese Villagers suspected of being Communists

What did this mean for the residents of the southern villages of Vietnam? Firstly, Vietnamese peasants were removed from their homes in their villages and placed within compounds named Strategic Hamlets. These Strategic Hamlets were effectively secure and defended villages, located in loyal areas. This was one of the first mistakes of the Strategic Hamlets, as the people were being pushed out of their homes, and at unrest as their religious beliefs meant that they should live close to where their ancestors lay.

Though, it is hard to ignore that the Strategic Hamlet program had many positives for the residents. The program was described as a form of community development that was intended to improve the social and political situations within them. Through the program, the residents were given education, social services, improved medical facilities, and elections. As well as this, the program armed volunteer groups in the hopes to grow the opposition to the communist attacks, and decreasing the number of sympathetic villagers helping the Viet Cong.

Strategic Hamlet Program Definition

The Strategic Hamlet program was the government plan of South Vietnam, the US government, and the ARPA to oppose communist efforts during the Vietnam War by enlisting and arming the countryside and preventing communist influences on the rural population.

• In 1963 there were around 14,000 strategic hamlets and 2,500 villages in Vietnam.
• The vast amount of strategic hamlets and villages in Vietnam meant that to protect the southern Vietnam people from the communist efforts, they would need an extremely large military presence.
• The Strategic Hamlet program approached this problem differently, as it replaces the need for military forces and soldiers with civilian volunteer groups that it provides weapons.

Strategic Hamlet Program Timeline

The timeline below shows us how the Strategic Hamlet program as a Cold War tactic was a failed attempt at political endorsement, leading up to the fall of the Southern Vietnam government and Ngo Dinh Diem's death.

Strategic Hamlet Program Vietnam

The Hamlets that were most commonly chosen to be fortified and become strategic hamlets were either in insecure areas or those that were closest to communist strongholds. The process of the fortification of the settlements aimed to protect those within and give them a military advantage over the land.

Fig. 3 South Vietnamese Strategic Hamlet moat

1. A bamboo fence would be built around the perimeter of the strategic hamlet.
2. Barbed wire would be built around the perimeter of the fencing.
3. A moat would then be dug around the lining of the fence.
4. Using the ground that had been dug up, a mound would then be shaped around the moat.
5. Areas around the village would be cleared to prevent guerilla tactics and the opposing forces from hiding and approaching the strategic hamlet without being seen. This also created a firing field.

Fig. 4 Vietnamese villagers of the strategic hamlet inside a bamboo fence

The defence of the strategic hamlet did not stop at the perimeter, there was at least one observation tower, some guard posts and an armoury storage post to help protect and arm its residents.

Strategic Hamlet Program Cold War

For context, the 1954 Geneva Conference that resulted in the partition of Vietnam into South Vietnam and North Vietnam was a consequence of the First Indochina War. Vietnam was in dire political conflict after this, as it was in constant communist vs non-communist warfare.

February 1962 brought a government inter-agency enlisted to direct and support the Strategic Hamlet program on a nationwide scale, marking it ad national policy two months later. Communist revolts in Malaya and Indochina contributed to the fast actions of the government of Ngo Dinh Diem during the Strategic Hamlet program. Another one of the reasons that the program was pushed by the government with great force was that they had taken inspiration from the Kibbutz program in Israel.

Strategic Hamlet Program Communist Reaction

As expected, the communist opposed the Strategic Hamlet Program. Communist forces in North Vietnam and Moscow described strategic hamlets as concentration camps, claiming that the people of southern Vietnam villages were being forcibly herded. The Northern Vietnamese propaganda addressed the Vietnamese people and called upon them to fight against the Strategic Hamlet program.

Fig. 5 Propaganda Leaflet Depicting Diseased North Vietnamese Soldier

Strategic Hamlet Program Failure

From religious concerns to a lack of planning, the rejection of the people, and the mistreatment of those in the settlements, the Strategic Hamlet program failed because:

• The south and the USA lost public support as the program essentially forced villagers to move from their homes.
• Viet Cong took this opportunity to infiltrate the territory by joining the crowds.
• Inadequate coordination, planning, resources, and an unachievable timeline of the Strategic Hamlet program contributed to its failure.
• President Diem lacked commitment to the program.
• The reforms that were promised by the program were not implemented.
• For religious reasons–the people believed they should stay where their ancestors were buried.
• Some hamlets faced starvation due to the lack of food and resources provided by the government.

Strategic Hamlet Program US Intervention

US intervention in Vietnam's conflicts was based on the American foreign policy that was put in place after WWII, the policy detailed America's active role in trying to contain Communism before it grew any further. This policy was created concerning the famous Domino Theory.

The United States assistance program of 1962 meant that by the end of that year, the US central government was providing administrative and technical skills, material, and funding towards the creation of the Strategic Hamlet project.

Strategic Hamlet Program Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy, the 35^th President of the US, was elected into office between the years 1961 and 1963. This meant that Kennedy was the leader of the US intervention in Vietnam.

The failure of the Strategic Hamlet Program and the success of the Viet Cong lead to several issues in Vietnam, religious differences, corruption, and the weakening of the Southern Vietnamese government of President Diem meant that US intervention was more vital than ever. Kennedy believed that if nothing was done then communism would soon spread, something that the United States already feared. Ths weak south Vietnamese government led to Kennedy's following actions...

• The rapid increase in US involvement and US presence in Vietnam.
• Kennedy issued over 16,000 military advisors to help the AVRN.
• President Kennedy made political suggestions that President Diem should alter the government and institute political and economic reforms to regain strength and control.
• Offered President Diem safety if he resigned.

Fig. 6: JFK and Vietnam's Secretary of State, Nguyễn Đình Thuận.

President Diem did not take the advice of the US, nor did he accept the offer of safety from President Kennedy. On 1 November 1963, Diem was assassinated and the South Vietnamese government fell.