The Phoenix Program: America's Use of Terror in Vietnam

By: Douglas Valentine

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A shocking expos of the covert CIA program of widespread torture, rape, and murder of civilians during America’s war in Vietnam, with a new introduction by the author. In the darkest days of the Vietnam War, America’s Central Intelligence Agency secretly initiated a sweeping program of kidnap, torture, and assassination devised to destabilize the infrastructure of the National Liberation Front (NLF) of South Vietnam, commonly known as the “Viet Cong.” The victims of the Phoenix Program were Vietnamese civilians, male and female, suspected of harboring information about the enemy - though many on the blacklist were targeted by corrupt South Vietnamese security personnel looking to extort money or remove a rival. Between 1965 and 1972, more than eighty thousand noncombatants were “neutralized,” as men and women alike were subjected to extended imprisonment without trial, horrific torture, brutal rape, and in many cases execution, all under the watchful eyes of US government agencies.Based on extensive research and in-depth interviews with former participants and observers, Douglas Valentine’s startling expos blows the lid off of what was possibly the bloodiest and most inhumane covert operation in the CIA’s history.The ebook edition includes “The Phoenix Has Landed,” a new introduction that addresses the “Phoenix-style network” that constitutes America’s internal security apparatus today. Residents on American soil are routinely targeted under the guise of protecting us from terrorism - which is why, more than ever, people need to understand what Phoenix is all about.

©1990 Douglas Valentine (P)2014 Audible Inc.

An Answer To My Unanswered Questions

If you were in the US Military between 1964-1975, I urge you to read this book. The combat soldiers of Vietnam surely must read it, as there was another war unknown to the foot soldier and regretfully you inherited the consequences of this mostly unseen war, where 27,000 Vietnamese were tortured and then killed. A government agency completely out of control, even up until today.
Americans must reevaluate the need for the CIA and other intelligence agencies as now common Americans are their innocent victims now that the USSR is no more.
Why is the book has gone unnoticed by the press is a true wonderment when the author was brave enough to tell it, and I thank Douglas Valentine's effort in purging maybe himself, if not the CIA.
No politicians are going to challenge this agency, so what do we do with this fourth branch of the government?
The book gives you the answer, but are we stout enough to disband the Brennans and Clappers of this country and no, Trump is not the man.
Sadly, it must start with one citizen and hopefully younger Americans might see the folly of it all. They have new victims as they have morphisised into an enemy of the common man in trying to change a national election.
Yes, up until this book I supported the intelligence world, but after this book, I have grave concerns.

HOLY CRAP!!!! The truth needs to come out!

Who do you believe?!?!?
There is so much talk today about real vs fake news. This book exposes the dirty truth of the US' involvement in Southeast Asia and it isn't pretty.
Being born in the 60s, I have had to take my understanding from books, old news reports, etc. I remember seeing one program where Robert McNamara admitted that he knew the Vietnam war was wrong and failure. I felt like he should have been tried for treason and imprisoned for prosecuting a war he knew was wrong!
Walter Cronkite and the news lied to us and especially about the Tet Offensive. Most trusted man my eye.

Being an audio book, it can be more difficult to research the references and information used in the book.
Douglas Valentine seems to have done his homework here, citing many names and places and interviews of the actual participants and policy makers.
If what is presented here is true, I am shocked and disturbed by the vast number of US and Vietnamese who lost their lives and their loved ones for nothing.
I understand the politics and fear of the spread of communism. It was and still is a real threat to the free world. Look at North Korea and the human misery of millions under the yoke of Kim Jong Un. Look at the rising power of Russia (again) or the Chinese threats against Japan and Taiwan.
However, the tactics, policies and actions described in this book demonstrate several things to my mind:
1- The thuggery and murder of evil or weak charactered men when given the power over someone else's life with no consequences. This is clear on all sides of the conflict herein.
2- Good men trying to protect and serve can be used a pawns and their lives become fodder.
3- Good and innocent people loose their liberty, property and lives when evil people strive to get gain and power by stepping on the dead.

This is not a short book. It should be read, pondered and understood.

FORBIDDEN BOOKSHELF Books ARE a MUST READ

If you want to understand the true purpose behind the Vietnam war and the False Flag that justified it, this is the book for you. This work is amongst the top five books on the subject that will assist world readers in understanding the American Government’s motivations behind the veil of secrecy for engaging in Laos and Vietnam. In addition, reader’s will come to understand the manipulation of the American public’s perception of the war that “never was” and the unjust treatment of Vietnam Veterans by both the public and the American Government. This should be studied in conjunction with several other works on the CIA’s involvement and manipulation of every war since the inception of the OSS. The OSS was the predecessor of what became known as the Central Intelligence Agency that KENNEDY desperately tried to dismantle only to be assassinated.

a lot of needless detail but interesting

this book is highly detailed about the facts of the Vietnam War and the covert operations by the CIA. it drones on and on about specific Personnel moves and people who did one thing or another but it fails to really flow well. undoubtedly this is very important because it documents our government immoral and illegal killing and torture in foreign countries. it takes 33 chapters to get to the conclusions that this may be going on today which is probably not too far-fetched. good study for someone writing documentaries or papers maybe not so interesting for the regular person.

DHS IS PHOENIX

A must-read to understanding the agenda behind Foreign Policy, the 'War on Terror' and the implementation of DHS, fusion centers across North America and policies now Incorporated by all level of law enforcement agencies. The Phoenix Program is a big puzzle piece that explains current events and where we're headed.

I expected too much. It delivered too little.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes. This is a tedious book to go through. I really wanted to know about the "Phoenix" program. I did not want to know a step by step progression TO THE Phoenix program. I got to chapter 13 or 14 and had had enough. For example, if I wanted to know about "Los Angeles" and someone took me one step at a time (literally) from Chicago to L.A., how long could I possibly listen to it and still be interested? "Take your left foot and put it here and then take your right foot and put it there -- this all leads to Los Angeles!" If anyone could get to chapter 13 or 14 on any subject and still know absolutely NOTHING about that subject, something is definately wrong!

What could Douglas Valentine have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Start with outlining what the Phoenix program really was. Break it down into its political, moral, economic and other various subsections. Then expound on those divisions through more specific examples.Next, explain how the Phoenix program was more about control, power and money with specific examples from devastated Vietnam. Mr. Valentine could also explain how our government is currently making similar programs against its own citizens and what we can do to stop them before we end up devastated like Vietnam.

Which character – as performed by Bob Souer – was your favorite?

None.

Could you see The Phoenix Program: America's Use of Terror in Vietnam being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No. It would fail.

Any additional comments?

I really wanted to know about this program. I wanted to see where mistakes were made and how we could avoid them today. I'm left uninformed.

More aptly named "The Acronym Program"

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More concentration on the story and less on the minutia of using abreviated language and acronyms to a cloying extent.

What was most disappointing about Douglas Valentine’s story?

It read more like a military report than a novel.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Bob Souer?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Some sentences in this book seemed to have more acronyms than real words and I found this caused the story to drag and was annoying to the point of distraction. As a Vietnam vet I expected this book to both entertain and inform. It did niether.

The CIA has it's hand's in country shaping!

WoW, The more I learn about our government and the CIA. The more I understand our current situation. GREAT BOOK

very detailed

this is an exceptionally well researched book. it does a nice job of echoing the roots of the use of torture and terror as an official policy seen used during our recent wars in the middle East. the book is detailed and a little heady.

I was expecting more.

I think there is a lot of hype to this book. I think is a true accounting but, in some respects it is overly detailed while in other places it isn't detailed enough. I suppose that must always be the nature of books that deal with the US military and the CIA. One of the aspects of such entities is they follow a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding just about everything. Even the things that are exposed and do come to light are surrounded with a lot of suggestion and innuendo. In my opinion, this is definitely fodder for some great conspiracy theories, but there's not enough hard factual evidence to hold water. If you have the time, it's an OK way to spend some of it.

Hear it to believe it!

Excellent level of detail. There's nothing the CIA won't do to achieve their overall objective.