VIET A '5 ST ATEGIC HA LETS Darohoa strategic hamlet, T u y e n D u c p r o v in c e, 1-/ighlanJs of Central Vietnam VIET NAM'S STRATEGIC HAMLETS One of the factors essential to the improvement of our present situation is the realization of the Strategic Hamlets. President Ngo-Dinh-Diem CONTENTS PAGE I. Strategic Hamlets : Weapons against Under-development and Subversion 3 - Military Revolution 5 - Political Revolution 8 - Economic Revolution IO -Social Revolution I2 -Conclusion IJ II. Essential Factor of National Recovery (Excerpt from President Ngo Dinh Diem's Message) IS III. Strategic Hamlets, Basis for Total Revolution (Political Counselor Ngo Dinh Nhu's Address) r8 IV. Strategic Hamlets built or under construction as of january r6, rg63 22 V. Map Showing Distribution of Hamlets by Province 24 VI. What Is Being Said about Strategic Hamlets 25 I - STRATEGIC HAMLETS : WEAPONS AGAINST UNDER- DEVELOPMENT AND SUBVERSION In the course of the history of Viet 0l mn, the han1let, after the fan1ily, is the basic social unit of the country. Through political upheavals and many other changes, the structure or the hatnlet has retained its essential character. This de1nonstrates the strength of its organ­ ization and the pennanence of this basic unit. Any revolutionary move1nent in order to be effective needs therefore to start fron1 the han1let. The Comtnune (Xa), in its traditional fonn, was a collection of farnilies, an association possessing a well­ defined amount of land, self-supporting, self-governing, and claiined the right to settle the proportionate amount of taxes to be given to the State. The Commune, made up of one or several han1lets (Ap) was conceived in itself to be a moral being with the right to the full exercise of civil rights, with the powers of purchase and "ith free access to justice. The Com1nune tnanaged its internal affairs as it chose, distributed the revenue, levied taxes, dispensed justice, secured order, and undertook useful public w·orks wfth little or no participation by a higher authority. De­ pending upon the itnportahce of the Cotntnnne, there were officers responsible for the preservation of order, public works, finance, records of births and deaths, and other public civic functions. 3 The present administrative structure of the Village unit (Xa) consists of several hatnlets (Ap). The Hatnlet itself is the basic adn1inistrative organization, providing the village with labour and contributing to the village's finances. The functioning and consistency of its organ­ ization are one of the detennining factors of the nation's life. In the political, social, economic and military fields. the Hamlet can be rightly considered as the nervous center of the present conflict. The outcome of the anti... coinnJunist fight in Viet Nan1 will depend on the Hatnlet. Under the ne\v Strategic Hamlet Scheme started in March 1962, Government activities are .centered on the Hatnlet. The villagers' needs are tnet through direct contact between them and the authorities. All n1eans are. used to give the Han1let direct assistance and to bring it into the orbit of the nation. The aim of the schetne is to make the ha1ulet residents realize their rights and responsibilities, to provide them with the 1neans for active participation in the reconstruction and defense of the country, to give them equal oppor­ tunities of fulfiln1ent of their rights and of enjoying the benefits the nation can afford then1. Realizing the in1portance of the Hamlet, the VietCong (Communists) have always considered the Hamlet as an ideal field for the implementation of their plan of subversion, and at the sa1ne time a source for the replenishment of their guerrilla forces. In order to elin1inate this danger, to uncover guerrilla activities and to force the Viet Cong to accept con1bat under conditions chosen by Governn1ent forces, the authorities have decided to reorganize the hamlet. At its first stage the Strategic Hatnlet Schetne calls for the building of defense \Vorks around the existing villages : watch-to\vers, earthworks, tnoats lined with bamboo spears, etc. 4 vVhen a strategic hamlet is created, it must first rely on regular armed forces for its defense: Army, Civil Guard and Self-Defense Corps units from the district. At this stage, a hamlet is knovvn as a cc secure hamlet, >) not a strategic hamlet. It becomes cc strategic>) when regular anned forces are no longer necessary. With Government assistance, the hamlet forms its own Self-Defense Corps and He publican Youth and Combatant Youth organ­ izations. Hamlet residents are trained in military matters by special instruction tea1ns which are sent in to set up and maintain defenses. Local defense forces begin manning vvatchto,vers, gun slots, guard posts and some­ times, patrols. To check infiltration by Red agents, hamlet authorities keep a close vvatch on the population. As Mr. Ngo Dinh Nhu, Political Adviser for the Presidency, architect and pri1ne n1over of the program, puts it, <<the systen1 of Strategic Hatnlets is a revolu­ tionary systen1 native to underdeveloped countries who have suffered misery and hun1iliation, divided minds, and Cotnmunist subversion, Strategic hamlets seek to assn te the security of the people in order that the success of the political, social and military revolution might be assured by an enthusiastic movement of solidarity and self-sufficiency.>) Military Revolution In this war 'vithout a frontline, the Viet-Cong are attempting to use the hamlet to carry out their plan of sabotage. Theirs is a syste1n of hiding : in the forest or atnong the population. They thus seek opportunities for their hit-and-run tactics. Disguised as peasants, they mingle with the1n. Through terrorisn1 they attempt to maintain fear among the population, and 'varn people of reprisals if they inform the Arn1y of their movements. 5 1tis therefore necessary for the authorities to reconsider their strategy and tactics, by converting these unfavorable conditions to their own advantage. From no\\r on, whenever the Cotnmunists want to launch an atlack they n1ust attack the fortified villages. Governn1ent forces are not to pursue the enemy and to run into an1bushes ; the enen1y is to attack the villages and to fall into our traps. Strategic hatnlets have forced upon the Con1n1unists a war along a definite front. They seriously upset their strategy by depriving thetn of the advantages resulting fron1 the lack of a traditional front and fron1 surprise attacks. By setting up a continuous frontline at the level of the individual hamlet as well as of a group of inter-dependent hatnlets coordinating their efforts along a con1mon schetne, the new systein has forced the Con1munists to accept fighting conditions along this defined line, beyond which the defense of the villages Darahoa strategic hamlet, Tuyen Due 6 may be assured by local ele1nents entrenched behind their own defense 'vorks. Fro1n being supplen1entary forces in the traditional strategy, local ele1nents have become principal con1batants. The Arn1y's regular units ·were once split into smaller elements to he put up in each village. They n1ay now be regrouped for n1ore effective operations in support of the villages or against Viet-Cong regular troops. Our forces, adopting guerrilla n1ethods, will fight the Viet-Cong V\7ith their own weapons. This change of positions 'vill undoubtedly produce an important evolution in the attitude of the population ~owards the Viet-Cong. ''rhen they now attack the ha1nlets, the Con1n1 unists un1nask their faces and appear in fact as the aggressors, the ene1ny of the people. While entirely changing the 1nilitary aspect of the war in Viet-Nan1, the new strategy n1akes a still greater itnpact on rural life, in tern1s of political, social and economic progress. province, Highlands of Central Viet Nam 7 Political evolution The tenn Strategic Hamlet is also significant fron1 a political point of view. Problen1s of democracy have be'en much Inore concerned with the press and parlia­ ments than they have been \Vith the countryside. \Vith th.e establishment of strategic hamlets, the governtnent seeks the realization of democracy on the grounds to which it is classically ideally suited, that of local governn1ent. An1ong the first steps taken after the establishn1ent of a strategic ha1nlet is the election of the han1let con1mittee, \Vhich usually consists of twelve representatives each concerned with son1e particular aspect of public affairs in the han1let. The basic end of the Strategic Ha1nlet Progran1 is to i1nplement democracy in rural areas. Those primarily responsible for the develop1nent of the program stress • Electoral meeting in a strategic hamlet, Gia Dinh province 8 that even if there were no war and no Communists, the program would still go ahead. Just as India has sought solutions to problems of underdevelopment through a Con1n1unity Development program, a Strategic Hamlet program is essential to a solution of the problems in Viet-Nam. Once all security measures have been completed, a comprehensive political and social program is launched. A hamlet administrative committee is elected through direct or indirect universal suffrage, depending upon the security situation in the area. After the establishing of the hamlet administrative committee, village council elections take place. Village by-la"rs are drafted by an assembly of hamlet chiefs, association leaders, village councilmen and the chief of district. The purpose of the by-laws is to establish a legal framework for democracy in the village(for example, no arbitrary arrest or imprisonment), con1munity development (equal rights and duties for all villagers). Finally. a general assembly is held during which the responsibility for management of the hamlet is officially transferred to the duly elected hamlet council. Appro­ priate instructions, with special emphasis on the problem of security, are issued. The aims of strategic hamlets are security and self­ sufficiency in administrative and military matters.