StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

The question is whether it is better to strategically target a terrorist or national leader for assassination, rather than fight a lengthy war of armies.  Of course it is argued that Presidential directives prohibit such actions.  I counter by saying that this war against the jihad is different from all others, and that “Directives” (like Presidential Executive Order 12333) were for past wars.

As I am not directly involved in any form of counterterrorism employment, this is purely opinion and conjecture…some might consider it a flight of fantasy or ”out of the box”.  But still the question is if a targetted assassination…such as eliminating Ahmadinejad could change the course of history (as it unfolds)…So it once again occurred to me that perhaps it was time to resurrect the Phoenix Program from the Vietnam era (admitting that as Bill Colby said back then, “a lot of things were done that should not have been done.”).  This was actually suggested to me by a close friend who comes from that “background.”  Of course there are some people who consider even a discussion of these tactics to be off limits.  But this war is not a conventional war.  This War on Terrorism is an asymmetrical chess game.  As a result, in my opinion, strategies and tactics of 25 years ago should not be considered sacrosanct.

So why not (selective/targeted assassinations)?  How different would things be today if a bullet with Hussein’s name on it had been delivered by a special ops team?  I continue to ask why Osama bin Laden remains either at large or has not been found. Even ask the question of why certain bothersome individuals now populating the world stage remain on the stage (lets name names…Chavez and Ahmadinejad)…in the end, we had not hesitation in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki to “save lives.”  Of course, I’m not an insider…so what do I know?  But, al-Sadr…he’s a pain in the butt.  Why is he still alive?  What will stop a jihadist from taking the shot at Karzai if the opportunity arises?

The following is a brief description of the Phoenix Program according to Wikipedia.

The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) or Operation Phoenix was a covert intelligence operation and assassination program undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in close collaboration with South Vietnamese intelligence during the Vietnam War. The program was designed to identify and “neutralize”—capture; induce to surrender; kill; or otherwise disrupt—the noncombatant infrastructure of Viet Cong (VCI) cadres who were engaged both in recruiting and training insurgents within South Vietnamese villages, as well as providing support to the North Vietnamese war effort. The operation was directed by the CIA’s Evan J. Parker, then by Ted Shackley and his deputies, including Thomas Clines, Donald Gregg, and Richard Secord.While the Phoenix operations were originated by the CIA, they were eventually turned over to the US Army and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) military, and later as part of the “Vietnamization” program they were transitioned to a Republic of Vietnam military program with just a handful of US military advisors assisting. The Phung Hoang operations were officially established by Republic of Vietnam Presidential decree on July 1, 1968, although the program existed unofficially prior to that date.Gary Leroy and Karl Sherrick were two of the most effective advisors having 23 kills in the month of March. President Thieu would later declassify the program, and announce its existence publicly on October 1, 1969, in order to gain wider acceptance and cooperation from South Vietnam citizens.

Here is an interesting article on the subject: CIA and Operation Phoenix in Vietnam

Just in case you’re interested in reading further, here is the link to a Google search on “CIA phoenix program vietnam.”

Here is a compilation of articles on the subject of the Phoenix Program. The Memory Hole Documents from the Phoenix Program (from this site):

The Phoenix Project and Its Creator, Nelson Brickham
by Douglas Valentine

Nelson Brickham joined the CIA in 1949, serving first in the sedate Directorate of Intelligence, then transferring in 1955 to the Operations Division, where he served in the high-profile Soviet-Russia Division. Brickham gained a wide range of experience, from running black propaganda and false-flag recruitments, to gathering information on Soviet missile silos. Over the years he developed his own “systems approach” to spookery that he later employed when developing the Phoenix Program…

Upon assuming the job as Chief of Field operations, Brickham inherited and sharpened three existing programs:

1) The Hamlet Informant Program (HIP), in which principal agents working for the CIA and Special Branch recruited informants in the hamlets. This was dangerous work, because no one likes a snitch, and because the snitches often lied and set-up innocent people. Informants know they are unliked, and they need to be motivated. Some of them were blackmailed into becoming informants; others did it for revenge. Money was the most common motivating factor used in recruiting people for the HIP Program. (The eerie resemblance to Ashcroft’s short-lived TIPS program need not be emphasized.)

2) The Province Interrogation (PIC) Program. The CIA began building a secret torture chamber in each of South Vietnam’s 44 provinces in 1964. Try to file an FOIA for information on them and see what happens. The CIA hired Pacific Architects and Engineers to build these facilities. Information from defectors and captured documents was put into the PIC Program reporting system, to which the CIA had total access.

3) Penetrations into the Viet Cong Infrastructure (usually by blackmailing or terrorizing a member of a targetted individual’s family) were the most sought-after means of gathering information. Brickham conducted penetrations unilaterally and in liaison with the Special Branch. CIA province officers trained their counterpart Special Branch officers on how to mount penetrations, how to interrogate suspects, and how to recruit informants…[more]

I never did get to read this book.

Outrageous thinking? Maybe. Uninformed thinking? Maybe. I’d love to hear an unclassified explanation of why such operations aren’t now feasible and why they wouldn’t shorten the path to peace from jihadist terrorism.  If it hasn’t already risen, perhaps the Phoenix should rise again?  Besides, unlike the Vietnam era, these strategic kills might not even require a “human hand” rather than a Predator strike.  Whose rules are we fighting this war by anyway?  There are alot of bad actors on the World stage today…why waste time, money and lives?

By the way, this is a replay of a post from last year around this time, The Return of the Phoenix - Taking the Offensive on Counterterrorism.

Project Phoenix, targetted assassinations, Vietnam