The cias counterinsurgency in vietnam was brutal and. Cia and counterinsurgency in vietnam, hayden peake. In this february 20, 1962 document, cia counterinsurgency specialist edward lansdale summarizes plans and objectives for the kennedyauthorized operation mongoose. This category contains the known or alleged operations of the central intelligence agency of the united states. Central intelligence agency cia has a rich history of intervention over many decades in guatemala, a country in central america that the us government has generally viewed as its backyard. December 18, 2014 this is a secret cia document assessing highvalue targeting hvt programs worldwide for their impact on insurgencies.
The orders were that no americans were to be on the hit or the snatch, snepp said. The phoenix program, as colby tried to explain without much success, was an intelligence collection service. Operation mongoose, he reports, aims for a revolt which can take place in cuba by october 1962. And while the insurgents held tight, mistrust of u. The untold story of the 2008 financial crisis full vice special report hbo duration. What was the phoenix program in the vietnam war and was it. A narrative history of the cias role in planning, organizing and executing the coup that toppled jacobo arbenz guzman on june 27, 1954. The phoenix program was a program designed, coordinated, and executed by the united states central intelligence agency cia, united states special operations forces, special forces operatives from the australian army training team vietnamaattv, and the republic of vietnams. But just as the phoenix committee managed the strategic internal security function in vietnam, bush s homeland security council will wage political warfare against its domestic opposition in america, and this operation will not appear on any. On may 23, 1997, cia released 1,400 pages of the 100,000 secret archives on the cias involvement in the 1954 guatemalan coup detat in response to numerous foia requests from the national security archive, a nonforprofit research organization and archive located on the campus of george washington university. From 1965 to 1972, phoenix was involved in the kidnapping, torture. Before the operation was really off the ground, colby started his phase of elimination of dissidents, and he did so under the code name of phoenix program.
Operation phoenix south africa, south african response to mass. Colby became insane with his power and before, he was finished with phoenix, over 20,000 suspects were executed and over 2,500 u. This instructional guidebook, part of the combat bookshelf, was published by desert publications, p. These cia teams in afghanistan are not just reminiscent of the operation phoenix program in vietnam, the death squads of central america. The united states and guatemala, 1952 1954, cia history staff document by nicholas cullather, 1994. Chapter 11 special operations group operation chaos. Phoenix built on the work of the cia created network of over 100 provincial and district intelligence operation committees in south vietnam that collected and disseminated information on the vci. By 1972, phoenix operatives had neutralized 81,740 suspected nlf supporters, of. Sep 29, 2017 the coverup was instead to disguise the fact that my lai was part of the cia killing program called operation phoenix. Harold weisberg donated the worlds largest accessible private collection of government documents and public records relating to the assassination of president john f. A program called operation phoenix was designed with the stated objective to neutralize the nlf national liberation front of south vietnam, and it utilized infiltration, capturing. Lansdale outlines a coordinated program of intelligence gathering, sabotage and political warfare.
Indeed, the cia, which furnished much of the staff for the program, tried to suppress this book when it was written in the 1980s. The author of three books on cia operations, douglas valentine began his research into the agencys activities when cia director william colby gave him free access to interview agency officials who had been involved in various aspects of the phoenix program in south vietnam. The cia would rescind it, making every effort to impede publication of the phoenix program, which documented the cia s elaborate system of population surveillance, control, entrapment, imprisonment, torture and assassination in vietnam. Rubicon, was a secret operation of the german bundesnachrichtendienst bnd and the us central intelligence agency cia, to purchase the swiss crypto manufacturer crypto ag hagelin codenamed minerva in order to control the company, its algorithms and indirectly its customers. The cia is reportedly expanding its role in afghanistan to target the taliban. Phoenix was a program headed by the cia, in conjunction with us special forces and australian and south vietnamese commandos, during the vietnam war. Johnson and expanded under president richard nixon, whose mission was to uncover possible foreign influence on domestic race, antiwar and other protest movements. Many, if not all, of the phoenix program materials were created or collected and donated by douglas valentine. May 06, 2020 the cia is a unique federal organization. And although this was a military unit, their targets werent military, but civilian. 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. Colby asked the cia for the loan of a few officers.
As is often the case with cia counterinsurgency programs, either by design or circumstance, phoenix quickly became notorious for allegations of widespread torture, summary executions, and indiscriminate killings. Clearly, phoenix program methods are being used by the cia in syria. Cia releases classified documents on psychic control plans us. This category has the following 6 subcategories, out of 6 total. The phoenix staff did not run operations to eliminate the viet cong. The phoenix program was a program designed and coordinated by the united states central. Phoenix built on the work of the cia created network of over 100 provincial and district intelligence operation committees in south vietnam that collected and disseminated information. 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. As one of the principal members of the united states intelligence community ic, the. Jan 18, 2017 the cia has revealed details of its project star gate mission to develop psychic abilities for the first time. Kevin shipp cia whistle blower shadow government deep state.
Counterinsurgency lessons from vietnam for the future pdf. July 16, 1927 december 9, 2002 was an american cia officer involved in many important and controversial cia operations during the 1960s and 1970s. John stockwell, cia officer the phoenix program vietnamese. Unfortunately, the phoenix front line unraveled faster than the vcis. Operation pbsuccess, one of the most famous cia operations in the history, was a code name for the cia secret plan against the government of jacobo arbenz, president of guatemala.
That is what the phoenix directorate did, and the department of homeland security ostensibly will do. Covert agents killed in the line of duty become lonely stars etched into the wall of cia headquarters. This action arm was principally the central intelligence agency cia. If you want to know how the cia turns a cigar box into an explosive that can. This is a troubled and troubling volume, at times polemically aimed against some of the revelatory voices that we have trusted for good reason over the years, at other times repetitive and. 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. While under american management, the phoenix program acquired an unsavory reputation for assassination and ineffectiveness.
Along with a number of men whose names became famous and whose lives and careers comprise a large part of americas secret history, goss appears see a. Operation chaos or operation mhchaos was a central intelligence agency domestic espionage project targeting the american people from 1967 to 1974, established by president lyndon b. The phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam. Colby on july 19, 1971, before senate subcommittee testified that cias operation phoenix had killed 21,587 vietnamese citizens between january 1968 and may 1971. Phoenix was operated and executed under the direction of the united states central intelligence agency cia. May 06, 2006 deposed cia head porter goss was once a member of the cias supersecret operation 40, an assassination squad which roamed through north and central america during the 1960s. Operation phoenix in 1964, the cia fabricated an attack by north vietnam on the gulf of tonkin providing sufficient reason for the u. Frank snepp, a cia analyst in saigon, went on a phoenix operation, though that wasnt his job. 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.
Covert paramilitary operations by the cia in vietnam began early in the sixties, but it was not until 1965, that the u. Douglas valentine the cia as organized crime and the. Valentine about his new book the cia as organized crime and they discuss the ramifications of the phoenix program and just how deep the cias. It was to be only members of the provincial reconnaissance unit. Cjcs dunford talks turkey, iran, afghan troop numbers.
A narrative history of the cia s role in planning, organizing and executing the coup that toppled jacobo arbenz guzman on june 27, 1954. Oct 26, 2017 by matthew hoh for counter punch 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 are the direct descendants of them. The rise of phoenix program in vietnam the vietnam war. Feb 06, 2017 the phoenix program and the cias underworld. The only difference in syria is that the establishment has chosen to use the faction in rebellion as a tool for destabilization and war rather than a prevailing puppet government. A covert operation differs from a clandestine operation in that the former seeks to hide the identity of the operation s sponsor, while the latter seeks to hide the operation itself. The phoenix program and the cias underworld youtube. There is a booklet, written in 1977 and distributed to a select group of u. Vietnamese commandos senate select committee on intelligence. The phoenix program was a program designed, coordinated, and executed by the united states central intelligence agency cia, united states special operations forces, special forces operatives from the australian army training team vietnamaattv, and the republic of vietnams south. The second element was the related action arm against the vcs shadow government or infrastructure.
Valentine about his new book the cia as organized crime and they discuss the ramifications of the phoenix program and just how deep the cia. The phoenix program and contemporary counterinsurgency. Former state department official matthew hoh tells rt americas anya parampil that the spy agencys covert goal. This shocking expose of the cia operation aimed at destroying the vietcong infrastructure thoroughly conveys the hideousness of the vietnam war publishers. Vela incident, alleged 1979 israelisouth african nuclear test supposedly codenamed operation phenix project phoenix south africa, sandf project to revitialise the reserve force. 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 cias phoenix assassination program lewrockwell. How illegal operations corrupt america and the world. By july, 1969, cordscombined operations for revolutionary development supportreplaced cia support and personnel with army advisers and a few civilians, including the writer.
The cia planned and mapped operations, including death squad operations. While researching phoenix, valentine learned that the cia allowed opium and heroin to flow from its secret. 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. Guatemala is bordered by the north pacific ocean and the gulf of honduras also known as the caribbean sea. Former phoenix advisor wayne cooper said operation phoenix was a unilateral american program, and klare confirmed by saying although most of the dirty work was performed by indigenous operatives, phoenix was designed, organized, financed, and administered by u.
The cias rural development cadre, macvs civic action and civil affairs, and the joint u. Phoenix program, cia military, intelligence, and internal security 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 interviews with phoenix operatives. Cia best practices in counterinsurgency wikileaks release. The phoenix program and the sla douglas valentine, mae. Revelations secured through freedom of information requests. Opinion behind the phoenix program the new york times. He used them to establish intelligence centers at the district level countrywide. Affairs offices field psychological operations also fell under. The phoenix program operated in south vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The cia designed and implemented the phoenix program during the vietnam. The revelations come as part of a huge dump of documents almost 12 million in. A retrospective on counterinsurgency operations central. Dec 29, 2017 the phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam.
For other uses of operation phoenix, see operation phoenix disambiguation. The phoenix, legendary animal that comes to symbolize what rises from the ashes. Take, for instanre, operation phoe civilians, including the writer. In 1967 the cia s far east division of clandestine services developed a program that came to be known as phoenix. Cia and operation phoenix in vietnam information about the cias assassination program in vietnam. A critical part of that effort is operation gallant phoenix, an intelligence sharing arrangement that started out with eight or so countries, and has since expanded to 19 nations who have. Though this document initially classified top secretsensitive still contains significant deletions, its declassified portions graphically detail the covert war against castro. The document is classified secretnoforn no foreign nationals and is for. Cias operation phoenix department of homeland security. Macv through civil operations and revolutionary development. The cumulative effect of these repeated demands was the addition of more and more resources, including agrnts, to operation chaos.
Primary text documents for douglas valentines seminal look at cia covert operations during the vietnam war, the phoenix program. Those officers that live must remain seated at ceremonies recognizing patriots that serve openly in the military. Another component of cords was the phoenix program. 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. The phoenix program was a program designed, coordinated, and executed by the united states central intelligence agency cia, united states special operations forces, special forces operatives from the australian army training team vietnamaattv,1 and the republic of vietnams south vietnam security apparatus during the vietnam war. 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. Although phoenix was ostensibly under military control, the central intelligence agency often directed operations on the ground. May 28, 2012 the program was in operation between 1965 and 1972, and similar efforts existed both before and after that period. A senior interagency group within the united states government acts as the high command of the secret war.
Thanks to cryptocomb for posting my taped interviews with the cia and military officers who created and effected the phoenix program in south vietnam. But the cia is not a lone ranger, shooting up saloons on its own account. As douglas valentine writes in his brilliant book, the phoenix program. Similarly, a substantial, but still a small number of cia operations and logistics. And thats what the cia did, by late len, cia was rapidly withdrawing its support from the program. Mar 04, 2019 washington, dc, march 4, 2019 the covert operations of the central intelligence agency are one element of the forward edge of power in u. May 08, 20 for its first official test, cia staffers drove acoustic kitty to the park and tasked it with capturing the conversation of two men sitting on a bench. Kennedy to hood college and the beneficialhodson library at hood college, which donated a copy to the national security internet archive. So we went out and stopped at the edge of the hamlet while the pru people went in. Due to his light hair and mysterious ways, shackley was known to his colleagues as the blond ghost. Icex became cords phoenix with a parallel hierarchy to phung hoang. The interviews were recorded on a tape in the 1980s, but were digitized in 2007 and are now available to the public and historians at the national security archive, texas tech, here at cryptocomb.
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