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Phoenix Program
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== History == By April 1965, the CIA Counter-Terror Program supported 140 teams of between three and 12 men each. Aimed exclusively at the VCI, the teams claimed a kill ratio in excess of eight to one.<ref>{{cite book|last=Birtle|first=Andrew|title=Advice and Support: The Middle Years, January 1964–June 1965|publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army|year=2024|url=https://history.army.mil/Publications/Publications-Catalog-Sub/Publications-By-Title/Advice-and-Support-The-Middle-Years/|isbn=9781959302056|page=524}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> On 9 May 1967 all pacification efforts by the United States came under the authority of the [[Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support]] (CORDS). In June 1967, as part of CORDS, the Intelligence Coordination and Exploitation Program (ICEX) was created, from a plan drafted by [[Nelson Brickham]].<ref name=Rosenau>{{cite book|title=The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counterinsurgency|last1=Rosenau|first1=William|last2=Long|first2=Austin|publisher=RAND Corporation|year=2009|url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/2009/RAND_OP258.pdf|isbn=978-0833047458|page=7}}</ref> The purpose of the organization centered on gathering and coordinating information on the VC.<ref name=Rosenau/> In December 1967 the South Vietnamese Prime Minister signed a decree establishing ''Phụng Hoàng'', (named after a mythical bird) to coordinate the numerous South Vietnamese entities involved in the anti-VCI campaign.<ref name=Congress>{{cite book|title=Vietnam: Policy and prospects 1970 Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate Ninety-First Congress Second Session on Civil Operations and Rural Development Support Program|publisher=US Government Printing Office|year=1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZzmwfEu-tMC&q=Phoenix+program+decree+1967}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>{{rp|58}} The 1968 [[Tet Offensive]] demonstrated the importance of the VCI.<ref name=Congress/>{{rp|50}} In July 1968 South Vietnamese President [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] signed a decree implementing ''Phụng Hoàng''.<ref name=Congress/>{{rp|56}} The major two components of the program were [[Provincial Reconnaissance Unit]]s (PRUs) and regional interrogation centers. PRUs would kill or capture suspected VC members, as well as civilians who were thought to have information on VC activities. Many of these people were taken to interrogation centers and were tortured in an attempt to gain intelligence on VC activities in the area.<ref name="otterman-62-64" /> The information extracted at the centers was given to military commanders, who would use it to task the PRU with further capture and assassination missions.<ref name="otterman-62-64">{{cite book|author=Otterman, Michael|title=American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond|publisher=[[Melbourne University Publishing]] |year=2007|isbn=978-0-522-85333-9 |page=62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wiVqrgS68NoC&pg=PA62|author-link=Michael Otterman}}</ref> The program's effectiveness was measured in the number of VC members who were "neutralized",{{sfn|Tovo|2007|p=11}} a euphemism{{sfn|Saunders|2008|p=209}}{{sfn|Keyes|2010|p=119}} meaning imprisoned, persuaded to defect, or killed.{{sfn|Tirman|2011|p=159}}{{sfn|Ward|Burns|Novick|2017|p=340}}{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=168}} The interrogation centers and PRUs were originally developed by the CIA's [[Saigon]] station chief [[Peer de Silva]]. DeSilva was a proponent of a military strategy known as counter-terrorism, which encompasses military tactics and techniques that government, military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorist activities, and that it should be applied strategically to "enemy civilians" in order to reduce civilian support for the VC. The PRUs were designed with this in mind, and began targeting suspected VC members in 1964.<ref name="otterman-62-64" /> Originally, the PRUs were known as "Counter Terror" teams, but they were renamed to "Provincial Reconnaissance Units" after CIA officials "became wary of the adverse publicity surrounding the use of the word 'terror{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite book|author=McCoy, Alfred W.|title=A question of torture: CIA interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror|publisher=Macmillan|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8050-8041-4|page=63|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVwUYSBwtKcC&pg=PA63}}</ref> Officially, Phoenix operations continued until December 1972, although certain aspects continued until the [[fall of Saigon]] in 1975.<ref name=ksil241>{{cite web|url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army-usawc/ksil241.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824203432/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army-usawc/ksil241.pdf|archive-date=24 August 2006|title=From the ashes of the Phoenix: Lessons for contemporary counterinsurgency operations|author=Ken Tovo|publisher=US Army War College|date=18 March 2005}}</ref>
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