Waubonsee Community College

Vietnam declassified, the CIA and counterinsurgency, Thomas L. Ahern Jr. ; foreword by Donald P. Gregg

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 433-435) and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Vietnam declassified

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496121514

Thomas L. Ahern Jr. ; foreword by Donald P. Gregg

the CIA and counterinsurgency

Vietnam Declassified is a detailed account of the CIA's effort to help South Vietnamese authorities win the loyalty of the Vietnamese peasantry and suppress the Viet Cong. Covering the CIA engagement from 1954 to mid-1972, it provides a thorough analysis of the agency and its partners. Retired CIA operative and intelligence consultant Thomas L. Ahern Jr. is the first to comprehensively document the CIA's role in the rural pacification of South Vietnam, drawing from secret archives to which he had unrestricted access. In addition to a chronology of operations, the book explores the assumptions

Introduction: To build a nation -- "The effort must be made" -- "Get them before they get us" -- Counterinsurgency in the Central Highlands -- Sea swallows and strategic hamlets -- Operation Switchback -- Experiments in the lowlands -- The Kien Hoa incubator -- The People's Action Team -- Another chance in the countryside -- Growing pains -- CORDS -- Phoenix -- The 1968 Tet Offensive and accelerated pacification -- Disengagement -- A matter of running city hall -- Conclusion: The limits of pragmatism