The phoenix program, assassinating suspected vc sympathizers in a systematic manner, worked well during the vietnam war and is the blueprint for the current black op targeting thousands of loyal americans using state of the art microwave mw and radio frequency radiation rfr weapons. South vietnams role in the controversial counterinsurgency effort offers lessons. The rise of phoenix program in vietnam the vietnam war. The program utilized a by any means necessary strategy to warfare that included the use of random assassination and the fabrication of enemy atrocities in order to rally the civilian population around u. The phoenix program itself was created by the cia as a way to coordinate numerous counterinsurgency programs during the vietnam war, using methods of blanket surveillance, kidnapping and. The phoenix program was a program designed and coordinated by the united states central intelligence agency cia during the vietnam war. Opinion behind the phoenix program the new york times. Douglas valentine the cia as organized crime and the. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read operation phoenix. The phoenix program, called phurig hoang by the vietnam ese, was established with the money and organizational tal ents of the c. The program was, at the time and still is controversial. Our republic of vietnam phoenix army patch is a regulation, full color, embroidered military patch. Susan hayes new series operation phoenix is a great easy read.
They created teams of monsters and unleashed them upon vietnam, not just to win against the north, but to create the illusion that the u. Between 1957 and 1972, the vietcong crippled the administration of the south vietnam saigon government by the systematic murder of an estimated 36,752 appointed village chiefs and other officials. The phoenix program is arguably the most misunderstood and controversial. These cia teams in afghanistan are not just reminiscent of the operation phoenix program in vietnam, the death squads of central america.
The footage in this video constitutes an unedited historical document and has been uploaded for research purposes. Lieutenant trinity west is in charge of her base, one that holds a lot of scientists working on secrets. As part of his duties in germany with military police. Phoenix program in vietnam and special operations in the war on terror, boykin said. The phoenix program was a disaster in vietnam and would be. Operation phoenix, like all intelligence operations, is a dirty business, but it is. The characters are strong and loveable and the story written in susans always perfectly edited fashion. Sep 06, 2018 thus, in south vietnam, the us military supported the cias phoenix program with troops and equipment. In current discourse, phoenix often functions as a codeword, much as it did during the vietnam conflict. Oct 24, 2017 these cia teams in afghanistan are not just reminiscent of the operation phoenix program in vietnam, the death squads of central america and the shia torture and murder militias of baghdad, they. Now her base is being investigated for thefts from years ago from the vault of the fallen.
Phoenix countered the viet cong apparatus attempting to overthrow the government of vietnam by targeting its leaders, colby wrote. Motivated by the fear of communism as posited by the domino theory, the phoenix program of the 1960s was a clandestine cia operation. Operation phoenix vietnam war state terrorism and neoliberalism. Thus, in south vietnam, the us military supported the cias phoenix program with troops and equipment.
Its not often i get side tracked into reading galactic stories about love and war but this one caught my eye and i loved the storyline. In a gripping memoir that reads like a spy novel, one man recounts his personal experience with operation phoenix, the program created to destroy the vietcongs shadow government, which thrived in the rural communities of south vietnam. Many of the players went on to walk the halls of the pentagon, congress, the department of homeland security, and major national security corporations. Sometimes, entire villages and towns were targeted for extinction. Jan 24, 2011 this is a 1970 us army handbook outlining the basic mission, organization, and methodology of the phoenix program, which was the notorious us counterinsurgency operation directed by the cia in the vietnam war. The coverup was instead to disguise the fact that my lai was part of the cia killing program called operation phoenix. Vietnam 1964 1975 from the book the cias greatest hits. In a gripping memoir that reads like a spy novel, one man recounts his personal experience with operation phoenix, the program created to destroy the vietcongs shadow government, which thrived in. Vietnam, phoenix, 6870 in 69 cia apparently had attack squeamishness and pulled out of cords. A vietnam fiasco seen from within qv oil by wayne l. The australian acorn intelligence operations against the vci were organized locally by the 1st australian task force and were not part of the republic of vietnam phuong hoang antiinfrastructure or the u. A little overwhelming at times, but with such controversial content the extensive documentation helps ensure credibility throughout, even when valentine is making cloaked references to the kennedy assassination, connecting the my lai massacre to phoenix, and describing the evolution of phoenix into a domestic operation. This book is an outstanding work as a personal memoir, an insight into the vietnam war, and an example of successful counterinsurgency operations.
Operation phoenix 1995, croatian army defense of slavonia during the operation storm. Phoenix was operated and executed under the direction of the united states central intelligence agency cia. Operation phoenix 1966, vietnam war military operation, february 1966 in bien hoa province. In the darkest days of the vietnam war, americas central intelligence agency secretly initiated a sweeping program of kidnap, torture, and assassination devised to destabilize the infrastructure of the national liberation.
This entry was posted on monday, march 14th, 2016 at 10. Valentine the hotel tacloban counters that claim in. Called operation phoenix, it was an assassination program plain and simple. The cias counterinsurgency in vietnam was brutal and. Jun 10, 2014 during the vietnam war phoenix was a u. Operation dewey canyon 1969 vietnam war offensive 25252 duration. Operation rolling thunder was the codename for an american bombing campaign during the vietnam war. The phoenix program for the unacquainted was a cia generated operation that sponsored mass arrests, terrorism, torture, murder and lies during the war in vietnam. June 10, 2014back in print today is a book that, if youre interested in the phoenix program, is a must read. Two squads cordoned off the village and one, led by. He has traveled and lived overseas in 14 countries. Fifty years ago the north vietnamese launched the tet offensive, a multipronged. For some contemporary counterinsurgency enthusiasts, the phoenix program represents a highwater mark in terms 2.
While there have been many books written about the phoenix program, valentines book is much more thoroughly researched than the other books. Former phoenix and cia director william colby contended in his book lost victory that the programs reputation for brutality is undeserved. It travels along the traditional romance line of hate love hate love. This shocking expose of the cia operation aimed at destroying the vietcong infrastructure thoroughly conveys the hideousness of the vietnam war publishers. Many of those who recognize our military mistakes in indochina fail to acknowledge the blunders of our quieter war for hearts and.
A retrospective on counterinsurgency operations central. Cooper a former foreign service officer, cooper spent 18 months in vietnam, most of it as a phoenix adviser at cantho, in the mekong delta. This covert operation was responsible for the killing, imprisonment, or torture of countless vietnamese in the name of neutralizing the viet cong infrastructure. Phoenix built on the work of the ciacreated network of over 100 provincial and district intelligence operation committees in south vietnam that collected and disseminated information on the vci. Wherever possible, these were apprehended or invited to defect, but a substantial number were killed in firefights during military operations or resisting capture. Cia and counterinsurgency in vietnam, hayden peake. Budd studied science fiction and literature while studying for his degree in international business at california state university at sacramento. Phoenix program was an intelligence and counterinsurgency program designed to gather, analyze information and then neutralize via capture, infiltration, torture, terrorism, and assassination the infrastructure of the viet cong national liberation front in south vietnam. A cia operation, the phoenix program aimed at destroying the vietcong infrastructure.
Officially, phoenix operations continued until december 1972, although certain aspects. Back in the early days of the vietnam war, americans did not assassinate people for political reasons, or so we thought. For other uses of operation phoenix, see operation phoenix disambiguation. The north in the south, page 51 examples include operation phoenix, a cia counterinsurgency programme established in vietnam to improve intelligence and wipe out what was assumed by the cia to be the vietcong infrastructure vci. Army, army national guard, army reserve units, and sold in the army post exchanges. A poignant, personal account by an army district adviser who discovered the vietcong to be a formidable opponent. But phoenix went far beyond aspirations of winning in vietnam. Douglas valentines book the phoenix program gets the evolutionary. Check market prices, skin inspect links, rarity levels, stattrak drops, and more.
May 28, 2012 the program was in operation between 1965 and 1972, and similar efforts existed both before and after that period. Herringtons gripping memoir recounts his personal experience with operation phoenix, the program created to destroy the vietcongs shadow government, which thrived in the rural communities of south vietnam. The phoenix program and the vietnam war john prados. Heavily researched over a number of years, more than any other book i know of about the period with nick turses book, kill anything that moves. By donating books to the soldiers and veterans of our country, provide them a chance to escape during downtime or to educate themselves. It believed north had moved away from military engagement to lacing entire gvt with spies possibly as many as 30,000 so thieus gvt could be easily overthrown. Stalking the vietcong takes the reader into a relatively ignored, and perhaps the most important side, of the phoenix programthe district level operations. But when an old flame puts that code to the test, he needs to make a hard choicethe job, or the woman. What was the phoenix program in the vietnam war and was it. The cia planned and mapped operations, including death squad operations.
Covert paramilitary operations by the cia in vietnam began early in the sixties, but it was not until 1965, that the u. Feb 18, 1970 the phoenix program, called phurig hoang by the vietnam ese, was established with the money and organizational tal ents of the c. William calley and his soldiers carried out orders and wiped out hundreds of men, women and children at my lai. Dec 29, 2017 the phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam. The phoenix program and contemporary counterinsurgency. Operation phoenix was designed with the stated objective to neutralize the nlf national liberation front of south vietnam, popularly known as the vietcong, and it utilized infiltration, capturing, terrorizing, assassinating, converting, or killing to meet its objectives. As a districtlevel operation phoenix officer in vietnam from february 1971 to august 1972, stuart herringtons job was to root out insurgency in the villages and hamlets of duc hue. The phoenix program was a disaster in vietnam and would be in. Mar 14, 2016 23 july statue of liberty operation phoenix end point. In march 1965, us troops began pouring into vietnam. Continue to check the veteran voyage 360 webpage for updates you can make a difference tags. The cia and the political defeat of the united states in vietnam, which was also translated and published without permission in the socialist republic of vietnam. Phoenix program in vietnam war offers lessons for today the. A former journalist for time and the new republic, he is the author of six books, including facing the phoenix.
A major element of this period was the phoenix program called phung hoang by the vietnamese. By 1972, phoenix operatives had neutralized 81,740 suspected nlf supporters, of. Operation phoenix railway, victorian railways postwar rebuilding project commenced in 1950. The phoenix program was a disaster in vietnam and would be in afghanistanand the nyt should know that. An example is operation number 17 where twenty six known vci or active supporters were detained in forty minutes using.
Foremost, its rare to hear a personal account from inside the very secretive operation phoenix. In the darkest days of the vietnam war, americas central intelligence agency. Nine years of backing the french, another nine years of backing diem and two more years of cia operations had failed. Global offensive disambiguation page providing links to topics that could be referred to by the same search term this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title operation phoenix. He has studied 20 languages and interpreted 11 of them while in the us army.
Operation phoenix game expansion, a game addon for counterstrike. How to donate books to soldiers and veterans bizfluent. I would think vietnam war vets would be interested in this expose. The role of americas phoenix program in the vietnam war. There have been few books that zeroed in directly on this subject, and of them, douglas valentines the phoenix program is the only book based on extensive. Organizations such as books for soldiers and operation paperback provide gently used, donated copies of books for activeduty military, veterans, military families and patients at va hospitals. This shocking expose of the cia operation aimed at destroying the vietcong infrastructure thoroughly conveys the hideousness of the vietnam war publishers weekly. Will be looking out for book two and the continuing saga. In his preface to vietnam declassified, thomas ahern writes that when he left vietnam in 1965, i knew we were losing, but i had no idea why the saigon government was in retreat in the countryside, and the vc ascendant. In 1969, the cia ostensibly turned the phoenix program over to the us military, at which point soldiers first began to pursue a political order of battle and conduct systematic countersubversive operations against foreign civilians.
Its objective was to integrate all government of vietnam activities against the vc aimed at penetration of the vc and the collection of intelligence. Vietnam order of battle for psychological operations. The phoenix, legendary animal that comes to symbolize what rises from the ashes. The untold story of the 2008 financial crisis full vice special report hbo duration. Op file, operation starlite, 18 aug18 sep 1965 dated 961965 document no. We hear pop culture references to it from time to time such as mel gibsons character in lethal weapon. This patch would be a great gift idea and a wonderful addition to your patch collection. The phoenix program is arguably the most misunderstood and controversial program undertaken by the governments of the united states and south vietnam during the vietnam war, according to a retrospective of the phoenix program by retired marine colonel andrew r. The cias phoenix assassination program lewrockwell. Vietnam war era phoenix program patch army and usaaf u. The phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam. Herrington is a very interesting point of view for multiple reasons. The handbook was largely written in response to growing controversy in the united states about human rights violations committed by us.
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