Opinion behind the phoenix program the new york times. The phoenix program operated in south vietnam from 1968 to 1972. Coordination and exploitation and eventually phoenix. The douglas valentine vietnam collection at the national security archive in washington, dc, has been open and used by researchers since early 2007. Vietnam veterans memorial 1 vietnam war 35 vietnam war biography 2 vietnam war fiction 4 vietnam war history 35 vietnam war memoir 7 vietnam war novel 7 vietnam war poetry 1 vietnam war posttraumatic stress disorder 1 vietnam war themed novel 10 world war ii novel 1 events 2 in service newsletter inside vva. Vietnam war collection opensource language english. As a program constructed to fight the viet cong, the cia used an innovative approach which will be analyzed through a different perspective. The following excerpt from the phoenix program, by douglas valentine, is from chapter 24.
Jun 26, 2008 another component of cords was the phoenix program. The americans would pro vide funds and advice for the creation. In vietnam the company developed icex aka phoenix as an intensive corporate management and public relations campaign for what is called nationbuilding. Extensive academic analysis of the phoenix program in vietnam. Counterinsurgency lessons from vietnam for the future pdf. The phoenix program and the vietnam war john prados. It may have been secret to the american people,at the timebut the vietnamese people were well aware of what was going on. Designed to destroy the vietcong infrastructure and ostensibly run by the south vietnamese government, the phoenix program in fact directed by the united statesdeveloped a variety of counterinsurgency activities including, at its worst, torture and assassination. As a veteran of the program go cong and an xuyen from jan 1969 to jan 1970 i see. In the darkest days of the vietnam war, americas central intelligence agency secretly initiated a sweeping program of kidnap, torture, and assassination devised. Sometimes, entire villages and towns were targeted for extinction. 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 rise of phoenix program in vietnam the vietnam war. Toggle navigation vietnam phoenix fund vietnam phoenix fund limited published navshare as of 29th february 2020 continuation shares class a lead series. War in order to coordinate the attack on the political and military leadership of the. Rick destefanis, a veteran of the armys 82nd airborne division, dedicates the gomorrah principle more. The secret history of americas war on drugs, and the strength of the pack.
Page 2 of 5 vietnam war era phoenix program patch posted in army and usaaf. Despite this growing interest, however, the phoenix program is not well understood out. The phoenix program in vietnam from his arrival in wartorn vietnam in 1968 to his reluctant departure twentyfive months later, john cook served as an advisor in the district of di an and took part in the systematic operations of the phoenix program to destroy the infrastructure, the political organization of the viet cong and. The cias counterinsurgency in vietnam was brutal and.
The personalities, politics and espionage intrigues that shaped the dea. There are a lot of facts about the organizations and structures but the author tends to use these to legitimize some sensational accounts. The phoenix program and contemporary counterinsurgency rand. 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. Shadow warriors the phoenix program, american clandestine.
Whereas the earlier programs had been unabashedly american operations, the phoenix program actually attempted to involve the south vietnamese in the planning and operations. It is the story of a single operational unit that was part of the larger, countrywide action element of the phoenix program the provincial reconnaissance units prus. The phoenix, legendary animal that comes to symbolize what rises from the ashes. Lexington books, lexington, ma 1990 isbn 066920014x cook, john l. In the works for 20 years, and cowritten with ken fermoyle, chaus book, i believe, will stand as the most important work by a vietnamese who participated in the vietnam war. The cias phoenix assassination program lewrockwell. The biggest myth coming out of vietnam was that perpetrated by nonveterans of the phoenix program. Along the way, the author displays an uncommon grasp of the problems of agent recruitment and handling peculiar to vietnam. Sean stone interviews journalist and author douglas valentine about his new book the cia as organized crime and they discuss the ramifications of.
Douglas valentine is the author of four books of historical nonfiction. The phoenix program, american clandestine policing in vietnam and authoritarian state development in november, 1967, frank armbruster of the hudson institute drafted a policy brief which provided a blueprint for the phoenix operation, whose goal was to dismantle the. Many of these officers were comfortable talking with valentine, and spent hours or even days recounting their memories of the program. The collection contains the research material, including original handwritten interview notes and government documents obtained through foia requests, for my book the phoenix program. John prados, author of presidents secret wars this definitive account of the phoenix program, the us attempt to. Dec 01, 2017 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. While there have been many books written about the phoenix program, valentines book is much more thoroughly researched than the other books. Jan 12, 2011 this feature is not available right now. Between 1968 and 1972, the phoenix program, according to cords statistics, neutralized 81,740 viet cong of whom 26,369 were killed.
Assassinations and torture are the essence of the war. The phoenix program in vietnam should have been left out as its misleading at best i was looking for much better info than just snippets of related experience. The usa ignored the 1954 geneva accords between the french and the vietnamese calling for a free election for president in 1956, because ho chi. It deals with the my lai massacre and the infamous tiger cages. The program was created on 9 may 1967, and included military and civilian components of both governments. The phoenix program and the cias underworld youtube. Feb 06, 2017 the phoenix program and the cias underworld. Phoenix program also called phung hoang of death squads and torture during the vietnam war. Macv through civil operations and revolutionary development. Throughout the phoenix programs existence, the gvn displayed little interest or desire to control the program, and, in fact, american advisors to the program often complained about the lack of south vietnamese support. The vietnamese program was called phung hoang, after an. Cords civil operations and rural development support was a pacification program of the governments of south vietnam and the united states during the vietnam war. A marine officers second tour in vietnam, 19681970.
Vietnam war era phoenix program patch page 2 army and. The late richard holbrooke began his foreign service career at usaid in rural pacification in vietnam, spending his formative years in the phoenix program. This page will also cover similar programs in southeast asia before or during the same time period as the phoenix program 19671975. Morley safers attack in the new york times,2 this essential. Presidents johnson and nixon tried to convince andor coerce southern vietnamese to fight for the ussupported pseudodemocracy. Designed to destroy the vietcong infrastructure and ostensibly run by the south vietnamese government, the phoenix programin fact directed by the united statesdeveloped a variety of counterinsurgency activities including, at its worst, torture and assassination. 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. Nov 23, 2014 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. The cia historian, contrary to neoorthodox arguments regarding progress in the vietnam war, concedes that u. Covert paramilitary operations by the cia in vietnam began early in the sixties, but it was not until 1965, that the u. The phoenix program was developed in order to bring some order into the fight between the subversion of the north vietnamese and the vietcong, and the government. The phoenix program in vietnam schiffer book for collectors ret. In the works for 20 years, and cowritten with ken fermoyle, chaus book, i believe, will stand as the most important work by a vietnamese who participated.
The cia designed and implemented the phoenix program during the vietnam. Marks in the search for the manchurian candidate formats. The leading researcher into the phoenix program is douglas valentine, whom william casey sent to interview dozens of cia officers involved. The phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam. Vietnam, 68 phoenix program statistics were phony a bust and a fake. 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. John prados, author of presidents secret warsthis definitive account of the phoenix program, the us attempt to destroy the viet cong through torture and summary execution, remains sobering reading for all those trying to understand the vietnam war and the moral ambiguities of americas cold war. The phoenix program was first published twenty four years ago, fourteen years after the congressional investigations that exposed and swiftly washed it from public memory. You mean the article that you posted but failed to give credit to its author. The story line was advanced on october 14, when defense attorneys for david mitchell. In total, he interviewed nearly 100 cia officers about the program.
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. The hotel tacloban, the phoenix program, the strength of the wolf. Vietnam, 69 program of 69 campaign called for elimination of vci. The truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation dr devra davis duration.
In response to the south vietnamese move, american officials in vietnam began referring to their own counterinsurgency coordination efforts by. Semantic scholar extracted view of the phoenix program by douglas. The phoenix program, revisited abcs of american interrogation methods abcs of american interrogation methods by douglas valentine weekend edition may 1517, 2004 counterpunch contents the pics piccs inside a pic the militarys side of the story adapted from chapter 5. Robert fitch argues that, within a generation, new york city has been transformed from the richest city in the world to one of the poorest in north america.
Civil operations and revolutionary development support. But phoenix went far beyond aspirations of winning in vietnam. In 1967 the cias far east division of clandestine services developed a program that came to be known as phoenix. Aug 26, 2009 the cia historian, contrary to neoorthodox arguments regarding progress in the vietnam war, concedes that u. S the remainder were executed and, in the opinion of critics, were often innocent or noncombatants and. See phoenix, page be the mythical phung hosing bird, symbol of the vietnamese program paralleling phoenix. This shocking expose of the cia operation aimed at destroying the vietcong infrastructure thoroughly conveys the hideousness of the vietnam war publishers weekly. Army special units set up a string of torture and death camps throughout south vietnam.
Support cords program provides useful insights into the. 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. The phoenix program was a program designed and coordinated by the united states central. Pics in the phoenix program, douglas valentine ny, wm morrow, 1990. In vietnam, in the 60s and 70s, the united states really got its concentration camp program in high gear.
What was the phoenix program in the vietnam war and was it. It should not surprise anyone therefore that he was assigned to help bring serbia to submission or that his last assignment was coordination of the us wars in south central asia. 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. The program was, at the time and still is controversial. This study helps balance claims about the program s effectiveness against charges of its brutality and its political costs. By zalin grant i wrote this story about the phoenix program in honor of the forthcoming publication of vietnam labyrinth by tran ngoc chau.
Vietnam, 67 phoenix program in fledgling stage conceived and implemented by cia. While under american management, the phoenix program acquired an unsavory reputation for assassination and ineffectiveness. Phoenix program the following are pertinent excerpts from william colbys nomination testimony july 2, 1973 on the phoenix program. Primary text documents for douglas valentines seminal look at cia covert operations during the vietnam war, the phoenix program.
Vietnam war era phoenix program patch page 4 army and. The phoenix program remains one of the more controversial and understudied aspects of the american involvement in vietnam and cia operations generally. 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. On august 25, 1970, an article appeared in the new york times hinting that the cia, through phoenix, was responsible for my lai. Douglas valentines book the phoenix program gets the evolutionary information regarding this program correct. I wrote this story about the phoenix program in honor of the forthcoming publication of vietnam labyrinth by tran ngoc chau. In this sense it is also a polemicalthough no way polemical in styleto learn the right lessons from the us invasion, occupation and genocidal war against the people of vietnam. He is the author of the novel tdy, and a book of poems, a crows dream. Please read the article that i posted here with the patch.
The phoenix program and contemporary counterinsurgency. The phoenix program 2 was first published 24 years ago, fourteen years after the congressional investigations that exposed and swiftly washed it from public memory. I am constantly amazed at the number of postings in various forums describing the truth about phoenix. Atglen, pa 1997 isbn 07643073 generous, kevin, vietnam, the secret war, gallery books, new york 1985 isbn 083179173x. The wars in afghanistan and iraq have refocused attention on past u. This study helps balance claims about the programs effectiveness against charges of. Jun 10, 2014 june 10, 2014back in print today is a book that, if youre interested in the phoenix program, is a must read. The violent geographies of the vietnam war and the rise of. A retrospective on counterinsurgency operations central. 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. Moreover, such vietnamera programs as igloo white remind us.
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