COVERT PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE OPERATIONS AGAINST NORTH VIETNAM AND THE NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT <SANITIZED>

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 16379695
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: July 1, 2024
• Document Release Date: May 22, 2024
• Case Number: F-2022-01481
• Publication Date: June 11, 1973

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11 June 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: Mr. William E. Colby
Executive Secretary
CIA Management Committee
SUBJECT
: Covert Psychological Warfare Operations
Against North Vietnam and the National
Liberation Front
1. Mr. Evans asked us to take a look at EA Division's
8 May note to the DCI, forwarding a proposed 40 Committee
submission seeking authorization to continue covert
psychological warfare operations against North Vietnam and
the National Liberation Front at an estimated cost of $379,000
for FY 1973 and $390,700 for FY 1974. Also included in the
package Mr. Evans asked us to look at is a 6 June note to you
(as Executive Secretary of the Management Committee) from
Mr. Briggs (Director of PPB) endorsing the EA proposal and
recommending that it be forwarded to the 40 Committee.
2. As you know, we have worked closely with EA Division
on psychological warfare matters over the past year, are
strong supporters of this effort and certainly have no quarrel
with the basic proposal. In the interests of literal accuracy,
however, one point should be flagged to your attention.
The extent of one side or the other's compliance with the Paris
Agreements is, in some contexts, an attribute rather like
beauty -- i.e. , something very much in the eye of the beholder.
The Station has certainly taken all feasible precautions to
minimize possible inspection problems -- physically separating
from the facilities of the GPWD, which manages the radio
operation, the off-ices of Agency personnel involved therein
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and adjusting covers so the Agency officers who deal with
their GPWD counterparts can do so in the context of inter-
governmental relations permissible under the terms of the Paris
Agreements. Nonetheless, the fact remains that the other side
and its sympathizers (including American sympathizers)
would undoubtedly cry "foul" if they ever got wind of the fact
that we were providing the GVN's psywar effort with fiscal
and advisory assistance. This is not to say we should not
do so, indeed I strongly feel that we should. We should recognize,
however, that the legality of our doing so could be � and if the
facts became known, would be -- challenged, even though we
could (and would) argue that such a challenge was unwarranted.
ce,L -0- �
G orge A. Carver, Jr.
Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs
Attachment
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UNCLASSIFIED
SUBJECT: (Optional)
FROM*
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!ASO NLY L j
Noir
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
bui � ing)
;'ORM
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*Executive Secretary,
CIA Management oriarriit4ee
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
DATE
RECEIVED
IJSE PIEVIOUS
EDIT3ONS
FORWARDED
OfFICER'S
INITIALS
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
SECRET ni CAUE1 riTi&i r�i INTERNAL
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CLASS1F
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EYES 'L?
6 JUN 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Secretary, CIA Management
Committee
SUBJECT:
REFERENCE:
Proposal to 40 Committee for Continued
Psychological Operations Projects in
South Vietnam
Memo dated 8 May 1973 to DCI from C/FE,
Subject: Covert Psychological Warfare
Operations Against North Vietnam and the
National Liberation Front
1. This paper proposes a continuation of Agency propaganda
broadcasting activities directed against Communist forces in
North and South Vietnam. Specifically, it recommends the funding
of one gray and two black radio projects at a cost of $379, 000 in
FY 1973 and an estimated $390, 000 in FY 1974. These funds are
available in the Agency budget.
2. Granting the premise that it is in the U.S. interest to
remain active in the psychological warfare effort it has sustained
in South Vietnam since January 1964, this program appears to be
well conceived and offers no unusual problems in terms of security,
cover and personnel. The attached status report indicates that the
officers responsible for these projects have shown both imagination
and prudence in modifying their broadcasting operations to match
the shift from full-scale war to uneasy peace that has occurred in
the two Vietnams during the past year. The themes currently being
carried by the three radio projects should be helpful in promoting
present U.S. policy interests by (a) encouraging compliance with the
cease-fire agreement, (b) reducing the political effectiveness of the
Communist forces by exacerbating differences between Hanoi and the
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NLF and (c) persuading the North Vietnamese people that the time
has come to turn their attention from the South and to the reconstruction
of their own country.
3. Release of this proposal to the 40 Committee is recommended.
Charles . Briggs
Director of Planning,
Programming, and Budgeting
Distribution:
orig - D/PPB
-2-
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SENDER WILL CHECK CLASS' FICATI N � TOP AND BOTTOM
UNCLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL � I SECRET
TO NAME AND ADDRESS
1 Director/PPB
ACTION
APPROVAL
COMMENT
CONCURRENCE
Remarks:
DIRECT REPLY
DISPATCH
FILE
INFORMATION
IN
PREPARE REPLY
RECOMMENDATION
RETURN
SIGNATURE
For review and recommendations to
Mr. Colby.
FOLD HERE T
TURN TO SENDER
9May7 3
UNCLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL SECRET
FORM NO. 1-67 4. 037 Use previous editions (40)
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SECRET
EYES ONLY
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: Covert Psychological Warfare Operations Against
North Vietnam and the National Liberation.Front
1. OPERATIONAL SUMMARY
Current CIA psychological warfare operations mounted from Saigon
against North Vietnam (NVN) and the National Liberation Front (NLF)
include one gray and two black radios broadcasting to targets in
North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The effectiveness of
these radios has been demonstrated by North Vietnamese sensitivity
to them and by the testimonials of NVA/VC ralliers and POW's. The
General Political Warfare Department (GPWD), Ministry of Defense,
Republic of Vietnam, contributes to and supports these activities.
2. PREVIOUS 40 COMMITTEE APPROVALS
These operations are descendants of the program first approved
by the Special Group (5412) on 8 June 1961. Higher authority on 11
January 1964 approved OPLAN 34 A, which initiated a broad program of
paramilitary and psychological warfare activities conducted by the
Government of Vietnam, CIA, and the U.S. Department of Defense. In
November 1968 the program was modified to curtail those aspects of .
the program which took place north of the 17th Parallel. The resulting
restricted program was approved by.the.301Committee on 23 September
1969. On 10 March 1971 and again on 25 May 1972 the 40 Committee
approved-a status report and continuation of the program.,
3. SECURITY, COVER AND PERSONNEL
The DRV has long complained of U.S. psychological warfare
programs against North Vietnam, but with little effect outside their
own country. The radio operation is, in fact, managed and conducted
by the GPWD, and the offices of CIA personnel involved are physically
separated to avoid any difficulties with 'international
inspection mechanisms. These CIA officers are under
cover and contacts between them and counterparts in GPWD are in the
context of inter-governmental relations permissible under the ceasefire
agreement.
ceasefire
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4. COORDINATION
These operations have been approved byAmbassador Bunker and
the Mission Council. In Washington the activity has been approved by Acting
Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Arthur W. Hummel, Jr.
5. COST
It is'estimated that expenditures willtotal $37-9,00a for FY 1973
and $3904700 for FY 1974. Funds are availablewithin the Agency's budget.
CONCUR:
Deputy Director fr Operations
Date
Executive Secretary
CIA Management Committee
Date
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illiam z. Nelsm
Chief, Far East Division
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(b)(6)
Release of the attached
report to the members of
the 40 Committee is
authorized:
Director of Central Intelligence
Date
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MEMORANDUM FOR: The 40 Committee
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
This is a status report on CIA psychological warfare operations
mounted from South Vietnam (SVN) against North Vietnam (NVN) and the
National Liberation Front (NLF). The program consists of one gray and
two black radios broadcasting to North Vietnam and to communist
military forces in SVN and along the common: border areas of:SVN, Laos,
and Cambodia. The aims of the program are (1) to encourage NVN and
the NLF to abide by the ceasefire agreement, and (2) to urge the NVN
leadership and people to turn from military adventurism in the South
Periodic Report on Covert Psychological Warfare
Operations Against North Vietnam and the National
Liberation Front
to economic and social reconstruction inAheir own
country�
Current operations derive from the program of psychological
warfare which CIA began conducting with_ARVN in 1961.- The Special:
Group (5412) approved this original program on 8 June 1961.,On
11 January1.964 higher authority approved OPLAN,34::A4 which included
combined Government of Vietnam (GVN) and DOD/CIA covert psychological
warfare directed at targets in NVN. This program was modified in
November 1968 to curtail those operations, including air support,
which were being conducted north of the 17th Parallel. Certain
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psychological warfare activities were retained, and on 23 September
1969 the 303 Committee approved this modified program. On 10 March
1971 the 40 Committee approved a status report and continuation of
the program. Effective 31 December 1971,.DOD withdrew from the program
and it was consolidated under the sole sponsorship of the CIA. The 40
Committee last approved continuation of these activities on 25 May
1972.
All
the support
of National
$379,000 in FY 1973 and $390,700 in FY 1974. This program has been
coordinated in Saigon with the Ambassador and the Mission Council. The
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
has approved the continuation of this activity.
2. MECHANISMS
operations have been consolidated into and are conducted with
of the General Political Warfare Department (GPWD), Ministry
Defense, Republic of Vietnam. This activity is budgeted for
r '
There has been considerable modification of CIA's psychological
warfare program since the submission of the last status report to the
40 Committee. With the initiation of a major North Vietnamese offensive
in the South in May 1972 the President directed an intensified
psychological warfare campaign against North Vietnam. In response, the
Agency initiated a new, gray radio, "Mother Vietnam," which went on the
air on 1 June 1972. Its initial broadcasting, for only a few hours a
day over then existing short wave equipment, was expanded over
the following months to a current total of 49 hours daily over both
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short and medium wave facilities. "Radio Red Flag" was terminated
with the inception of "Mother Vietnam" so as to provide the initial
facilities and transmitter time for the new radio. Its legend, that
of a notional pro-Soviet, anti-Chinese faction of the Lao Dong Party,
was no longer relevant to the actual situation in NVN. Mimics of Radio
Hanoi and the NLF's Radio Liberation continued through. January 1973,
but were themselves terminated after the ceasefire came into effect
in Vietnam. This action was taken because their messages were
considered only marginally effective and the facilities they required -
could be better utilized for a new program, "The Voice of Nam Bo
Liberation." This latter radio pretends to represent nationalistically
oriented factions of the NLF who resent Hanoi's dominant role km the
revolution in the South. Approval to proceed with this new program
is the subject of a separate memorandum to the 40 Committee.
The program of mailing fabricated letters to personnel assigned
to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) installations abroad was
discontinued in the Spring of 1972. There had never been any reactions
to the letters, which had been designed to surface ideological
vulnerabilities, and the manpower and financial resources involved were
required for more productive activities.
As of 1 May 1973, CIA's psychological warfare program in South
Vietnam consists of the following gray and black radios:
. A. Mother Vietnam is a gray radio (Hanoi has attributed it to
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the GVN) which broadcasts four hours of original programs for a total
of 49 hours daily over three high frequency and two medium wave
transmitters. The medium wave transmissions can be received through-
out North Vietnam and in the third and fourth military regions in
South Vietnam; the high frequency (shortwave) transmissions are
received in most of Vietnam and Laos and in some portions of Cambodia.
The program centers around a female announcer who addresses her
audience with warmth, concern and compassion. She stresses the
senselessness of continued conflict and appeals to the North Vietnamese
people to join in reunifying the two Vietnams in a spirit of brotherly
cooperation. She also blames the ambitious policies of the DRV leader-
ship for the estrangement and suffering of the Vietnamese people.
B. The Voice of Nam Bo Liberation is a new radio scheduled to
become operational in 1973. It ostensibly represents a significant
faction of the NLF which resents Hanoi's domination of the NLF and
the revolution in South Vietnam. Its criticisms of the NLF mainstream
leadership and of DRV policies are intended to create strains and
irritation between Southerners and Northerners in the ranks of the
VC and the NVA. It will consist of one hour of original programming
iiroadcast eight hours daily over short wave.
C. The Voice of the Sacred Sword Patriots' League broadcasts
a one hour short wave program seven times a day, or 49 hours a week.
The Sacred Sword Patriots' League (SSPL) is a notional NVN "loyal
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opposition" organization. In previous years, this radio assumed a
hostile, anti-Lao Dong Party stance, but in the ceasefire era its
projection is one of encouraging reconciliation and reconstruction. It
still criticizes DRV policies which it considers to run counter to the
long range interests of the North Vietnamese people, but in a manner
less abrasive, and, at the same time, offering constructive alter-
native policies.
3. RESPONSE
The effectiveness of our radio effort can be measured by North
Vietnamese denunciations and
reactions provided by NVA/VC
publications and Radio Hanoi
efforts to counter our programs and by
ralliers and POW's. DRV official
have warned the NVN people against our
radios, identifying each by name. "Mother Vietnam,". in particular
has been singled out and Radio Hanoi has replayed portions of its
broadcasts so that listeners would know what programs to avoid. In
a recent and unique incident, a GPWD officer, who went to Hanoi with
a Four Party Joint Military Commission team, discussed "Mother
Vietnam" with Radio Hanoi personnel. The latter complained that they
were under orders to monitor, tape and transcribe all "Mother Vietnm"
broadcasts and then send the complete transcriptions to the Central
Committee of the Lao Dong Party.
Interrogation of NVA/VC ralliers and POW's indicates that
approximately 25 percent have listened to one or more of our radios.
Several ralliers claimed that "Mother Vietnam" induced them to rally
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and that others in their units had been emotionally affected by
"Mother Vietnam," to the extent that some had deserted and returned
to their homes in North Vietnam.
4. ALTERNATIVES
Under current circumstances, there are no practical alternatives
to conducting these radio operations in South Vietnam and in concert
with the GVN. A unilateral effort on the current scale within South
Vietnam would be physically impossible due to GVN control of plant,
facilities, and power resources. To attempt these operations outside of
Vietnam would be more expensive, less efficient, and less productive.
5. RISKS AND CONTINGENCY PLANNING
The DRV has long complained of U.S. psychological warfare programs
against North Vietnam, but with little effect outside their own
country. The radio operation is, in fact, managed and conducted by
the GPWD, and the offices of CIA personnel involved are physically
separated to avoid any difficulties with international ceasefire
inspection mechanisms. The program obviously depends upon cooperation
with and the common sense of purpose of the GVN; should relations
between the U.S. and the GVN become less friendly, it is conceivable
that these activities would be curtailed or terminated.
6. COORDINATION
This psychological warfare activity has been approved in Saigon
by the Ambassador and the Mission Council. In Washington, the
continuation of this activity has been approved by the Acting Assistant
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Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
7. COSTS
CIA estimates the costs of this activity at $379,000 for FY
1973 and $390,700 for FY 1974. These funds are available within
the Agency budget.
8. RECOMENDATION
It is recommended that the 40 Committee approve the continuation
of these covert psychological warfare operations, including the
funding level.
r 7.) T:
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