A special standalone issue from the files of the critically acclaimed 'Vietnam Journal' series. Special Ops: Phoenix, writer and illustrator Don Lomax (MARVEL's Punisher) has embedded war reporter Scott 'Journal' Neithammer recount the tale of a special American Seal unit infiltrating into North Vietnam and of a special accompanying group of Vietnamese women who end up proving it was not just a man’s world or war.
The acclaimed Vietnam Journal series from Don Lomax, nominated for a Harvey Award, is collected and presented as a series of graphic novels. Vietnam Journal is a look at the Vietnam War through the eyes of a war journalist, Scott 'Journal' Neithammer, as he chronicles the lives and events of soldiers on the front line during the Vietnam War. Creator Don Lomax based Vietnam Journal on his experiences on his tour of duty in Vietnam in the mid 1960's. In BOOK SEVEN, the United States military decides to launch an offensive into the A Shau Valley near the Laotian border. This has been a long time staging area that the Viet Cong have used for years to send men and supplies into South Vietnam from the enemy’s sanctuary in Laos. Meanwhile 'Journal' becomes fascinated with the story of a prisoner of war who belonged to a small tribe that has lived in the A Shau Valley for centuries. They have no sense of country, politics or ideology, only for their local people, but they are dragged anyhow into a war they couldn’t even comprehend. And as the battle at A Shau Valley continues even though Nixon has taken over as President of the United States, ‘Journal, always trying to stay as impartial as possible, can’t contain his rage when he finds the Viet Cong receiving medical supplies from United States protesters back home against the war. Also included in BOOK SEVEN is the collected Hamburger Hill serial series that appeared in Gallery Magazine. Picked by Entertainment Weekly as "a graphic novel you should own" and recommended by the Military History Book Club. "Lomax bases his fictional work on his real experiences in Vietnam in 1966, with powerful results. It is Lomax's concern for average soldiers that, in the end, makes his work significant." - Publishers Weekly. "Even today, VIETNAM JOURNAL is one of the most gritty and brutally honest war stories ever published." - Brian Cronin, Comic Book Resources. "A powerful collection of stories and history of the Vietnam War, created by a veteran of both the war and of war comics " - Douglas P. Dave, School Library Journal. A Caliber Comics release.
Here is the extraordinary story of a veteran of 26 years of combat with the Navy's most elite special force--the legendary SEALs--including five tours of Vietnam (one in the top-secret PHOENIX program). Walsh's exploits stand alone as the pinnacle of daring and sacrifice in the history of the SEALs.
Modern-day advocates of the Phoenix Program argue that it was devastatingly effective against the Viet Cong infrastructure during the Vietnam War, but detractors condemn it as a merciless assassination campaign. The authors provide a fresh assessment of the program and identify aspects that are relevant for contemporary counterinsurgency.
“This shocking expose of the CIA operation aimed at destroying the Vietcong infrastructure thoroughly conveys the hideousness of the Vietnam War” (Publishers Weekly). 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 exposé 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.
The Chomsky Reader brings together for the first time the political thought of American's leading dissident intellectual—“arguably the most important intellectual alive” (The New York Times). At the center of practically every major debate over America's role in the world, one finds Noam Chomsky's ideas—sometimes attacked, sometimes studiously ignored, but always a powerful presence. Drawing from his published and unpublished work, The Chomsky Reader reveals the awesome range of this ever-critical mind—from global questions of war and peace to the most intricate questions of human intelligence, IQ, and creativity. It reveals the underlying radical coherency of his view of the world—from his enormously influential attacks on America's role in Vietnam to his perspective on Nicaragua and Central America today. Chomsky's challenge to accepted wisdom about Israel and the Palestinians has caused a furor in America, as have his trenchant essays on the real nature of terrorism in our age. No one has dissected more graphically the character of the Cold War consensus and the way it benefits the two superpowers, or argued more thoughtfully for a shared elitist ethos in liberalism and communism. No one has exposed more logically America's acclaimed freedoms as masking irresponsible power and unjustified privilege, or argued quite so insistently that the “free press” is part of a stultifying conformity that pervades all aspects of American intellectual life. In a lengthy interview with the editor, Chomsky discussed his thought in the context of his personal history.
