There is another disturbing connection in the La Penca bombing. On the night before the bomb went off, Oliver North’s liaison to the contras, Rob Owen, was meeting in San José, Costa Rica, with the CIA station chief, Joe Fernandez. Rob Owen is the brother of Dwight Owen, who was killed in an ambush by the same Vietcong outfit that was supplied by the villagers of My Lai.
Consider also that Tom Polgar, former Saigon station chief, was chief investigator for the Senate Select Committee probing the Iran-contra affair. In the February 1986 issue of Legal Times, Donald Gregg is quoted as saying that Polgar “wanted to assure me that [the hearings] would not be a repeat of the Pike and Church investigations.” When George Bush was director of central intelligence in 1976, Gregg was his representative before the congressional committees that were investigating the CIA’s role in criminal activities, including the attempted assassinations of foreign leaders. At the time Gregg presented the committees with an ultimatum: Back off or face martial law. Polgar, it seems, likewise derailed another round of executive-legislative brinkmanship.
In 1985 Tom Polgar was a consultant on George Bush’s Task Force on Combatting Terrorism, along with Oliver North and John Poindexter.
What these “old Phoenix boys” all have in common is that they profit from antiterrorism by selling weapons and supplies to repressive governments and insurgent groups like the contras. Their legacy is a trail of ashes across the third world.
And where can Phoenix be found today? Wherever governments of the left or the right use military and security forces to enforce their ideologies under the aegis of antiterrorism. Look for Phoenix wherever police checkpoints ring major cities, wherever paramilitary police units patrol in armored cars, and wherever military forces are conducting counterinsurgent operations. Look for Phoenix wherever emergency decrees are used to suspend due process, wherever dissidents are interned indefinitely in detention camps, and wherever dissidents are rounded up and deported. Look for Phoenix wherever security forces use informants to identify dissidents, wherever security forces keep files and computerized blacklists on dissidents, wherever security forces conduct secret investigations and surveillance on dissidents, wherever security forces, or thugs in their hire, harass and murder dissidents, and wherever such activities go unreported by the press.
But most of all, look for Phoenix in the imaginations of ideologues obsessed with security, who seek to impose their way of thinking on everyone else.
* Under Colonel Nicolas Carranza, who, according to the Center for National Security Studies, was recruited by the CIA in the late 1970’s at a cost of ninety thousand dollars a year.4
* In 1983 Bush journeyed to El Salvador and arranged to have the most prominent death squad leaders sent to diplomatic posts abroad. By 1987 nine of eleven were back.
APPENDIX
Addendum 1: Psyops Comic Book: “Phung Hoang Campaign”
The cartoon book titled Gia dinh ong Ba va Chien Dich Phung Hoang (Mr. Ba’s Family and the Phoenix Operation) reads as follows:
Caption 2. Summary: Mr. Ba and his family are presently living in Phong Thanh village. This village is actually part of the nationalist territory but is still infiltrated by a number of Communist elements; therefore, Phoenix leaders have taken military action against them. They received enthusiastic cooperation from the villagers. As a result of this, and through accurate information provided by local people, many Communist cadres have been arrested. These circumstances help you follow the story of Mr. Ba’s family.
Caption 3. The cruel Communists kill innocent people again!
Caption 4. Following is the news: “This morning at nine A.M., a Lambretta was blown up by a Communist mine five kilometers outside Phung Hiep village. Two children were killed, three women wounded. The Communists continue to terrorize people!”
Caption 5. “Hello, sister Tu!”
“Why are you so late?”
“Hello, brother and sister. I am sorry I am late. I left early this morning, but we had to stop at the bridge because it was destroyed by a Communist bomb. We had to wait for the bridge to be repaired by a military engineering unit.”
Caption 6. “Mr. Ba, you are asked to pay farm tax to the Liberation Front!”
Caption 7. “This year the crop is poor, but the Communists still collect taxes. It is a miserable situation. I have heard there is much security in Phung Phu village. There taxes are not collected by the Communists any more thanks to the Phoenix operation. I wonder why such an operation has not come to our village?”
“Perhaps because nobody provides them with information! This afternoon the Phoenix operation agents posted a notice at the intersection. I will go and see it tomorrow.”
Caption 8. “What is new, my friends?”
“There are two dangerous Communist cadres hiding in our village.”
Caption 9. Here are the two Communist cadres sought by the Phoenix Operation. The wanted poster says: “Dear compatriots, If you know the hiding place of the two above-named Communist cadres, please notify the national police or the armed forces. You will be rewarded, and your name will be kept secret.”
Caption 10. The radio broadcast says, “Compatriots, please help your government by providing information indicating the hiding place of two Communists, Ba Luong and Hai Gon. You will be rewarded, and your name will be kept secret.”
“Did you hear that on the radio?”
“I knew it already. It is exactly the same as it has been posted on the wall at the intersection of the village.”
Caption 11. “See, there are so many leaflets!”
Caption 12. “Honey, what do they say in those leaflets?”
“They are the same as those wall posters, as well as the announcements on the radio yesterday. The two Communists Ba Luong and Hai Gon are presently hiding in our village in order to collect taxes. I am determined to report to the Phoenix Operation Committee because I know their hiding place.”
Caption 13. “Where are you going so early?”
“I am going to the district headquarters to report about what happened last night.”
Caption 14. “Dear Sir, the two Communists you want are hiding in my village. They are hiding in the house number 80/2 by my village boundaries. They only go out at night. If you succeed in arresting them, please keep my name secret!” “Thank you, Mr. Ba, your name will be kept secret.” (The Phoenix Operation provides security and prosperity to the people.)
Caption 15. “Why are so many soldiers entering our village?”
“Perhaps they are conducting a military operation against the Communists in hiding.”
Caption 16. “The two Communists are very dangerous. We can only have peace and security when they are captured.”
Caption 17. “Ladies, do you know that the two Communists are captured? From now on our village will be secure. There will be no more assassinations or tax collectors. The Phoenix operation is very effective!”
Caption 18. “Mr. Ba, since the two Communists are captured, our village is at peace. Too bad they are in jail! If they returned to our side beforehand, it could have been better for them!”
“They are obstinate indeed. Had they returned like Mr. Thanh from Long Dien village, they certainly would have enjoyed the government’s clemency. Mr. Thanh is now reunited with his family.”
Caption 19. “Mr. Ba, you have some mail.”
“I wonder who sends you this mail?”
“Wait and see!”
Caption 20. “What does the letter say?”
“Dear Mr. Ba, Since you have helped the government by providing information and undermining the local structures of the Communists, you will be rewarded accordingly. You are invited to attend the coming meeting of the Phoenix Operation Committee to receive your award. Sincerely yours.”
Caption 21. Poster says: “Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, former guerrilla at Long Dien village, Gia Rai District, Bac Lieu Province, has returned to the national side. He therefore is allowed to be reunited with his family.”
AA
Air America: subsidiary airline of the Central Intelligence Agency which was active in Asia during the Vietnam War
Agroville
(Khu Tru Mat): garrison community into which rural Vietnamese were forcefully relocated in order to isolate them from the Vietcong.
AID
Agency for International Development: branch of the U.S. State Department responsible for advising the government of Vietnam, including the National Police
AIK
Aid-in-Kind: nonmonetary aid
An Ninh
The Vietcong’s internal security and propaganda service
APC
Accelerated pacification campaign: pacification program begun November 1968 to increase the number of villages rated “secure” under the Hamlet Evaluation System
APT
Armed propaganda team: platoon-size unit composed of soldiers with both a combat and psychological warfare mission
ARVN
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
ASA
Army Security Agency: branch of the National Security Agency working with the U.S. Army to locate the Vietcong through its radio communications
Biet Kich
Commando
Cadre
Nucleus of trained personnel around which a larger organization can be built
CAP
Combined Action Patrol: platoon-size unit composed of U.S. Marines and Vietnamese Territorial Forces
CAS
Controlled American source: an employee of the CIA
CD
Civilian detainee: Vietnamese civilian detained by U.S. or Vietnamese military forces
CDEC
Combined Document Exploitation Center: formed October 1966 to support allied military operations primarily through the translation of captured enemy documents
CG
Census Grievance: CIA covert action program designed to obtain information on the VCI through static agents in villages, or mobile agents in armed propaganda teams
CI
Counterintelligence: that aspect of intelligence devoted to destroying the effectiveness of enemy intelligence activities
CICV
Combined Intelligence Center, Vietnam: created in 1965 to coordinate U.S. and South Vietnamese intelligence operations
CID
Criminal Investigation Division: branch of the U.S. Army charged with investigating crimes committed by American soldiers
CIDG
Civilian Irregular Defense Group: U.S. Special Forces-trained village and tribal security and reaction forces
CINCPAC
Commander in Chief, Pacific: the U.S. military headquarters in Hawaii to which the commander of MACV reported
CIO
Central Intelligence Organization: formed in 1961 to coordinate South Vietnamese foreign and domestic intelligence operations
CIS
Combined Intelligence Staff: formed in November 1966 to manage the attack against the VCI in Saigon and its environs
CMDC
Capital Military District Command: formed in June 1968 to coordinate military and pacification operations in Saigon and its environs
CMEC
Combined Materiel Exploitation Center: formed in 1965 to coordinate intelligence gained from the analysis of captured enemy materiel
CORDS
Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support: organization established in May 1967 under MACV, designed to coordinate U.S. military and civilian operations and advisory programs in South Vietnam
COSVN
Central Office of South Vietnam: mobile headquarters of the South Vietnamese insurgency, created in 1962
CPDC
Central Pacification and Development Council: formed in 1968 by William Colby, who was then chief of CORDS, as a liaison staff to the office of the prime minister of South Vietnam
CPHPO
Central Phung Hoang Permanent Office: formed in July 1968 to manage the South Vietnamese attack against the VCI
CSC
Combined Security Committee: formed in 1964 to protect U.S. government personnel and facilities in Saigon and its environs
CT
Counterterrorist: mercenary soldier employed by the CIA to kill, capture, and/or terrorize the VCI
CTIV
Cong Tac IV (also known as Counterterror IV): joint U.S.-South Vietnamese program begun in December 1966, designed to eliminate the VCI in Saigon and its environs
CTSC
Combined Tactical Screening Center: formed by the U.S. Army in 1967 to distinguish prisoners of war from civilian detainees
Cuc Nghien Cuu
Central Research Agency: North Vietnamese intelligence service
DAO
Defense Attaché Office: U.S. military headquarters that replaced MACV in 1973 after the cease-fire
DCI
Director of Central Intelligence: U.S. official in charge of managing the affairs of the CIA
DEPCORDS
Deputy to the MACV commander for Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
DGNP
Director General of the National Police: Vietnamese official in charge of the South Vietnamese police
DIOCC
District Intelligence and Operations Coordination Center: office of the Phoenix adviser in each of South Vietnam’s 250 districts
DMZ
Demilitarized zone: stretch of land along the seventeenth parallel, created in 1954 to separate North and South Vietnam
DSA
District senior adviser: senior CORDS official in each of South Vietnam’s 250 districts
FI
Foreign Intelligence: branch of the CIA charged with inserting agents within foreign governments
Free Fire Zone:
Area in South Vietnam where U.S. military personnel had the authority to kill anyone they targeted
GAMO
Group administrative mobile organization: French-advised and -outfitted combat unit composed of South Vietnamese soldiers
GCMA
Composite airborne commando group: French-advised and -outfitted antiguerrilla unit composed mostly of Montagnards
GVN
Government of Vietnam
HES
Hamlet Evaluation System: computer system developed by the U.S. Defense Department in 1967 to measure trends in pacification
HIP
Hamlet Informant program: CIA-funded program managed by CIA officers in liaison with the Special Branch of the South Vietnamese National Police in which secret agents were paid to identify VCI in hamlets
hooch:
Dwelling occupied by rural Vietnamese
Hop Tac:
Pacification Intensive Capital Area program, begun July 1964 to bring security to Saigon and its environs
HVRP
High Values Rewards Program: bounty program proposed by the Phoenix Directorate in July 1971 to induce low-level VCI to turn in high-level VCI
ICEX
Intelligence coordination and exploitation: original name of the Phoenix program, formed in June 1967
IOCC
Intelligence Operations and Coordination Center
IPA
International Police Academy: school in the United States where the Agency for International Development through its Office of Public Safety trained policemen from foreign countries from 1963 to 1974
ISA
International Security Affairs: office within the U.S. Defense Department responsible for supervising security asistance programs such as Phoenix in foreign countries, excluding NATO
JAG
Judge Advocate General: chief prosecuting general within the U.S. armed forces
JGS
Joint General Staff: command organization of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
Jl
Personnel branch of the JGS or MACV
J2
Intelligence branch of the JGS or MACV
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br /> J3
Operations branch of the JGS or MACV
J4
Logistics branch of the JGS or MACV
JUSPAO
Joint U.S Public Affairs Office: formed in May 1965 under the office of the U.S. Information Agency in South Vietnam, to manage MACV psychological warfare operations and public relations
KKK
Khmer Kampuchea Krom: Cambodian exiles trained by the CIA in South Vietnam
KMT
Kuomintang: official ruling party of the Republic of China (Taiwan), formed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1911
LLDB
Luc Luong Duc Biet: South Vietnamese Special Forces
LRRP
Long-range reconnaissance patrol: small team of U.S. soldiers sent to gather behind-the-lines intelligence on enemy troops
LST
Landing Ship Transport: naval vessel in which troops are often quartered
Phoenix Program Page 57