Bombing of Vietnam ' s dikes During the Vietnam War , the U . S . Joint Chiefs of Staff considered and rejected some additions to strategic bombing campaigns that would include targeting a series of dikes and dams along Vietnam ' s Red River delta . A classified 1965 USAF report 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 the North Vietnam ese food supply , and leverage Hanoi during negotiations ; then - Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara , however , rejected the idea . President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger discussed bombing the dike network in a 1972 conversation on Operation Linebacker II , later published by Daniel Ellsberg : Nixon : We ' ve got to quit thinking in terms of a three - day strike [ in the Hanoi - Haiphong area ] . We ' ve got to be thinking in terms of an all - out bombing attack - which will continue until they - Now by all - out bombing attack , I am thinking about things that go far beyond . I ' m thinking of the dikes , I ' m thinking of the railroad , I ' m thinking , of course , the docks . Kissinger : I agree with you . President Nixon : We ' ve got to use massive force . " Two hours later at noon , H . R . Haldeman and Ron Ziegler joined Kissinger and Nixon : < br > President : How many did we kill in Laos ? Ziegler : Maybe ten thousand - fifteen ? Kissinger : In the Laotian thing , we killed about ten , fifteen . President : See , the attack in the North that we have in mind , power plants , whatever ' s left - POL [ petroleum ] , the docks . And , I still think we ought to take the dikes out now . Will that drown people ? Kissinger : About two hundred thousand people . President : No , no , no , I ' d rather use the nuclear bomb . Have you got that , Henry ? Kissinger : That , I think , would just be too much . President : The nuclear bomb , does that bother you ? . . . I just want you to think big , Henry , for Christsakes . 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 . Heavy monsoon rains 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 well they may have been for some downed U . S . aircraft . 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 missile s , 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 of napalm , 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 their propaganda campaign . Actress Jane Fonda is often credited with helping publicize the bombing , for which then U . S . Ambassador to the UN George H . W . Bush accused her of lying . Columnist Joseph Kraft who 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 of Agence 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 . " In 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 . This area was targeted more than the western part which had more military targets ( for instance , Hanoi ) . The overwhelming majority of dike bombing also occurred on the concave sections of dike , the most vulnerable to such bombing . 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 .