Phoenix Program Founded (1967)
Sun Jul 09, 1967
The Phoenix Program, founded on this day in 1967 via the MACV Directive, was a CIA program implemented to destroy the Viet Cong (VC) via infiltration, torture, interrogation, and assassination, explicitly targeting non-combatants. These non-combatants were described as "political infrastructure" for the VC.
The Phoenix Program "neutralized" 81,740 people suspected of VC membership, of whom 26,369 were killed, the rest either surrendered or captured. The program was controversial even with the U.S. security state, with one former U.S. military intelligence officer describing it as a "sterile depersonalized murder program".
There were widespread reports of torture and murder of prisoners and, because the program targeted apparent civilians, many innocent people were killed. In some cases, Vietnamese people would report their enemies as Viet Cong in order to get U.S. troops to kill them.
After the program's abuses began receiving negative publicity, it was officially shut down in 1971, although the program continued under the name "Plan F-6", with the government of South Vietnam placed in control.
- Date: 1967-07-09
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.hoosier84.com.
- Tags: #Assassinations.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org