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{{Short description|Central Intelligence Agency domestic espionage project}}
{{about|the espionage project|the science fiction novel|Operation Chaos (novel)|Rush Limbaugh's 2008 political strategy|The Rush Limbaugh Show#Operation Chaos}}
'''Operation CHAOS''' or '''Operation MHCHAOS''' was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) domestic [[espionage]] project targeting
==Background==
The CIA was charged with the collection, correlation, and evaluation of intelligence. While the Act does not specify a prohibition on collecting domestic intelligence, or a restriction to only collect foreign intelligence, [[Executive Order 12333|Executive Order 12333 of 1981]] added prohibitions to limit CIA activities. The CIA began domestic recruiting operations in 1959 in the process of finding [[Cuba]]n exiles who could be used in the [[Cuban Project|campaign against
The CIA developed numerous operations targeting American
*[[HTLINGUAL]] – Directed at letters passing between the United States and the then Soviet Union; the program involved the examination of correspondence to and from individuals or organizations placed on a watchlist.
*Project 2 – Directed at infiltration of foreign intelligence targets by agents posing as dissident sympathizers and which, like CHAOS, had placed agents within domestic radical organizations for the purposes of training and establishment of dissident credentials.
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==Scale of operations==
When
Targets of Operation CHAOS within the antiwar movement included:<ref name="Goldstein01" />
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*[[Young Lords]]
*[[Women Strike for Peace]]
*[[Ramparts
At its finality, Operation CHAOS contained files on 7,200 Americans, and a computer index totaling 300,000 civilians and approximately 1,000 groups.<ref name="Hixson00">{{cite book|title=Military Aspects of the Vietnam Conflict |first=Walter L. |last=Hixson |isbn=0-8153-3534-2 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2000 |page=282}}</ref>
==Findings==
The aim of the programs was to compile reports on "illegal and subversive" contacts between United States civilian protesters and "foreign elements" which "might range from casual contacts based merely on mutual interest to closely controlled channels for party directives."<ref name="Hixson00"
DCI [[Richard Helms]] informed President Johnson on November 15, 1967, that the CIA had uncovered "no evidence of any contact between the most prominent peace movement leaders and foreign embassies in the U.S. or abroad." Helms repeated this assessment in 1969.<ref name="Theoharis06" /> In total, 6 reports were compiled for the [[White House]] and 34 for [[United States Cabinet|cabinet level]] officials.<ref name="Napoli05" />
==Expose==
The secret program was exposed by investigative journalist [[Seymour Hersh]] in a 1974 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' entitled ''Huge CIA Operation Reported in US Against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents in Nixon Years''.<ref name="Theoharis06" /><ref name="NYT">{{Cite journal |title=Huge CIA Operation Reported in US Against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents in Nixon Years |author=
Following the revelations by the Rockefeller Commission, then-DCI [[George H. W. Bush]] admitted that "the operation in practice resulted in some improper accumulation of material on legitimate domestic activities."<ref name="Friedman05" />
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* [[Project SHAMROCK]]
* [[Project Megiddo]]
* [[
==References==
{{
==External links==
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* [http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Operation%20Chaos.html Operation Chaos: The CIA's War Against the Sixties Counter-Culture]
* [http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/churchfinalreportIIIi.htm Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities: United States Senate - CIA Intelligence Collection about Americans: CHAOS and the Office of Security]
* [http://ciamemoryhole.blogspot.com/search/label/operation%20mhchaos Transcriptions of CIA documents related to Operation MHCHAOS]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson}}
{{Presidency of Richard Nixon}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Central Intelligence Agency domestic surveillance operations]]
[[Category:Central Intelligence Agency operations]]
[[Category:Cold War intelligence operations]]
[[Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation operations]]
[[Category:Government databases in the United States]]
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