Editing Ngô Đình Nhu (section)

==Strategic Hamlet Program==
{{See also|Strategic Hamlet Program}}
In 1962, Nhu began work on the ambitious [[Strategic Hamlet Program]], which was informed by his philosophy of Personalism.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nguyen|first=Duy Lap|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhrCDwAAQBAJ&q=philosophy+of+the+stratigic|title=The unimagined community: Imperialism and culture in South Vietnam|date=2020|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-1-5261-4398-3|language=en}}</ref> The problem was an attempt to build fortified villages that would provide security for rural Vietnamese. The objective was to lock the Viet Cong out so that they could not operate among the villagers. Colonel [[Phạm Ngọc Thảo]] supervised these efforts, and when told that the peasants resented being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands and put into forts they were compelled to build, he advised Nhu it was imperative to build as many hamlets as fast as possible.<ref>Karnow, p. 274.</ref> The Ngôs were unaware Thảo, ostensibly a Catholic, was in fact a communist double agent acting to turn the rural populace against Saigon.<ref name=t47>Tang, p. 47.</ref> Thảo helped to ruin Nhu's scheme by having strategic hamlets built in communist strongholds. This increased the number of communist sympathisers who were placed inside the hamlets and given identification cards. As a result, the Viet Cong were able to more effectively penetrate the villages to access supplies and personnel.<ref>Jacobs, p. 127.</ref><ref>Langguth, pp. 168–69.</ref>