Speaker 1: Today, we're going to be looking at Operation Phoenix, the
Speaker 1: Shadow War of Vietnam. It's also known as the Phoenix
Speaker 1: Program and was one of the most controversial and secretive
Speaker 1: counter insurgency efforts undertaken by the US during the Vietnam War.
Speaker 1: Who Initiated in nineteen sixty seven. Officially run by the
Speaker 1: CIA and coronation with the US military and the South
Speaker 1: Vietnamese government, its primary goal was to neutralize the viet Cong,
Speaker 1: the clandestine civilian support network aiding the Communists insurgency in
Speaker 1: South Vietnam. Rather than engaging in traditional military combat, Phoenix
Speaker 1: operated targeted suspected viet Cong operatives, informants, and political cadre
Speaker 1: embedded within Southern Vietnamese villages and urban areas. The program
Speaker 1: focused on identification, capture, interrogation, and assassination, often using local informants, defectors,
Speaker 1: and Southern U Vietnamese security forces. Trained. At its peak,
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Program at thousands of agents and operatives working
Speaker 1: across Vietnam. US special forces, including navies in Southern or
Speaker 1: South Vietnamese National Police, collaborated in raids and homes and villages,
Speaker 1: extracting individuals of being tied to the Viat Kong. Many
Speaker 1: were sent to interrogation centers, some of which were notorious
Speaker 1: for their harsh and often brutal tactics. Others were executed.
Speaker 1: From nineteen sixty seven and nineteen seventy two, they estimate
Speaker 1: over eighty thousand individuals were neutralized, a term that included arrests, defections,
Speaker 1: and killings, of which and estimated twenty six thousand could
Speaker 1: have been assassinations. Proponents of Phoenix argued that it was
Speaker 1: a necessary measure in an unconventional war where enemy forces
Speaker 1: operated within civilian populations. By dismantling the Via Coong shadow
Speaker 1: government and logistics, the US hoped to cripple the insurgency
Speaker 1: from within. Some military strategists believe Phoenix had a meaningful
Speaker 1: impact in weakening the Viat Kong's operational capabilities. However, the
Speaker 1: program quickly became infamous for its lack of oversight, human
Speaker 1: rights abuses, and mistaken identity. These innocent civilians were frequently
Speaker 1: targeted based on fabricated intelligence or weak intelligence, and of course,
Speaker 1: corruption and personal vendettas also shaped a lot of those
Speaker 1: that were falsely accused. In nineteen seventy one, Operation Phoenix
Speaker 1: came under public scrutiny, with congressional hearings exposed many of
Speaker 1: its darkest aspects. Journalists, former operatives, and Vietnamese survivors testified
Speaker 1: to the violence and lawlessness of the program. Critics labeled
Speaker 1: a state sponsored assassination program. In response to the mounting pressure,
Speaker 1: the program was officially disbanded in nineteen seventy two. Operation
Speaker 1: Phoenix today remains a symbol of the ethical quagmire of
Speaker 1: counterinsurgency and covert warfare. It is studied quite a bit,
Speaker 1: not only for its tactical lessons, but for the profound
Speaker 1: legal and moral questions it tends to raise about wartime conduct,
Speaker 1: intelligence gathering, and the cost of victory. While the defenders
Speaker 1: claim had disrupted the via cong networks, its legacy is
Speaker 1: ever tarnished by the abuses. In many ways, Operation Phoenix
Speaker 1: foreshadow the dilemmas the US would face in later conflicts,
Speaker 1: such as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fascinating operation indeed