Strategic Hamlet Essay

Melissa Ocava

Professor Andrade

English 101

1 October 2017

What Led To the Failures Of the Strategic Hamlet Program In November 1961, Robert Thompson, suggested to Diem, a plan for pacification of the Delta. This plan was known as the strategic hamlet program. The Hamlet strategic hamlet program was essentially a plan to “combat the communist insurgency” by pacifying the countryside. However, the strategic hamlet program was a failure, isolating more rural Vietnamese rather than contributing to the growth in influence of the Viet Cong. When looking back on the strategic hamlet program, it’s inevitable but to wonder who and what assisted in its downfall. I believe that the JFK administration had some involvement in the failures of the strategic

The American public were to be convinced that there was no danger of America entering and in the second, the south were in anyhow winning”(Young 92). In order to achieve this illusion to the public, Hanoi had to be publicly warned of America’s “unswerving commitment” to South Vietnam. It was important for the United States to avoid looking like a “new colonial power” to the South, while also getting them to support the government picked for them. Judging from this, we can get a sense of just how important the image of America was for the JFK administration. This obsession of how America was viewed to the public led to the “Name the Enemy Contest”, something that may have been a great reason as to why the strategic hamlet program met some

This was inspired by Robert Thompson, who was well known to American officials because of the strategic hamlet program. Mecklin offered a top prize of 3,5000 piastres for name that would essentially represent the enemy in a way to turn many against him. However, Mecklin’s contest was only one of many efforts to turn people against the enemy. For instance, “100,000 matchbooks were distributed with a message extolling the strategic hamlet program on the cover and kind words for the various government forces on the inside”(Young 93). This led to exposure of such issues that Mecklin had intended to be used to get the public to turn against the enemy. Often defending the image set for one’s own country, the outcome of such things result in failure. However, at the time, “The all important task was “enlist nationalistic sentiment on the minds of the South Vietnamese government, and to establish in the minds of the people the conviction that the Saigon regime is the legitimate government of the country”(Young 93). Now, the outcome of this was the ultimate reason for the failures of the strategic Hamlet