Proposed bombing of Vietnam's dikes

During theVietnam War, theU.S.Joint Chiefs of Staffconsidered and rejected some additions tostrategic bombingcampaigns that would include targeting a series ofdikesanddamsalong Vietnam'sRed Riverdelta. A classified 1965USAFreport suggested that the Red River flood control system could probably not be destroyed by conventional aerial bombing.
In 1966,John McNaughton, Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, proposed the destruction of the Red River Valley dams and dikes in order to flood rice paddies, disrupt theNorth Vietnamesefood supply, and leverageHanoiduring negotiations; then-Secretary of DefenseRobert McNamara, however, rejected the idea.
The dike and dam system on the Red River had been expanded steadily since independence was declared and by 1972 consisted of nearly 2500 miles of dikes, levees, dams and sluices. Heavymonsoonrains coupled with the preoccupation of the civilian population that normally maintained the water works, led to extensive flooding in 1971.In an attempt to garner international opposition against the newest U.S. strategic bombing campaign,Rolling Thunder, the North Vietnamese Government began a propaganda campaign using images of the flood to allege that the U.S. had begun a strategic bombing campaign against the Red River dikes. Given the North Vietnamese tactic of forcing U.S. aircraft to jettison their bombloads and abort their missions, the dikes undoubtedly were their point of impact on occasion, as they may have been for some downed U.S. aircraft.
As the North Vietnamese called on the local population to maintain the military lines of communication, labor was drawn away from dike maintenance. The problem was exacerbated by the placement of air defense equipment (AA and GCI) on the dikes and the resulting deterioration caused by the vibration of the guns. North Vietnamese SAMs that missed their mark often fell back to earth before exploding, causing additional damage to the dikes.As the dikes deteriorated, however, the North Vietnamese sought a way to continue to fight the war and maintain the dikes. In order to extract a greater effort from their population, they turned the issue into one that would rally the people, alleging that the United States was bombing the dikes intentionally in order to flood the entire delta. Foreign visitors were provided tours of damaged dikes — photographic coverage indicates that most visitors were taken to the same "damaged" dike over a period of several years — to exploit the issue in the foreign press.
PresidentRichard Nixonand Secretary of StateHenry Kissingerdiscussed bombing the dike network in a 1972 conversation onOperation Linebacker II, later published byDaniel Ellsberg:
U.S. investigation into the North Vietnamese claims revealed that U.S. bombing had caused minor damage to the dikes but none of the damaged structures were part of the system protecting Hanoi, and none of the damage was severe enough to cause a major breach.Further complicating matters was the North Vietnamese placement of anti-aircraft radars,surface to air missiles, and artillery atop dike structures. The dike system was also part of the North Vietnamese transportation network, with roads and rail lines in close proximity to the dikes. Although authorization was given during Operation Linebacker II to attack these sites, only the use ofnapalm,cluster bombs, and other antipersonnel weapons were permitted to be used in an attempt to minimize structural damage.
The North Vietnamese used these incidents as part of theirpropagandacampaign. ActressJane Fondais often credited with helping publicize the bombing, for which thenU.S. Ambassador to the UNGeorge H. W. Bushaccused her of lying. ColumnistJoseph Kraftwho was also touring North Vietnam, believed that the damage to the dikes was done in error and was being used as propaganda by Hanoi, and that if the U.S. Air Force were "truly going after the dikes, it would do so in a methodical, not a harum-scarum way." Others, like Jean Thoraval ofAgence France-Presse, reported personally witnessing a U.S. bombing raid where a dozen planes had dropped bombs and fired rockets on a nearby dike, concluding that "the attack was aimed at a whole system of dikes."Sweden's Ambassador to Hanoi,Jean-Christophe Öberg, along with two Swedish journalists, described the damage to the dikes as "methodic."
An investigation into the bombing of the dikes carried out by a French geographer,Yves Lacoste, concluded that the bombing was based on a systematic policy to flood the eastern part of the delta. According to the investigation, the eastern part was targeted more than the western part which had more military targets (for instance,Hanoi). The investigation stated that the overwhelming majority of dike bombing also occurred on the concave sections of dike, the most vulnerable to such bombing and that the effects of the bombing were profound, as 'minor damage' actually severely weakened the dike structure through sub-surface cracking, which increased vulnerability during periods of high discharge.